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TRATELS 







CANADA, 



THE UNITE]D STATES, 



1816 AND 1817. 



By Lieut. FRAxNCIS ^HALL, 



14lH LIGHT DEAG0053, H. P. 






V 






BOSTON : 

BE-PCBLISHED FROM THE LOSDOS EDITION 
By Welh and Lilly. 

1818. 



^^. 



WILLIAM BATTIE WRIGHTSON, 
WILLIAM EMPSON, 

• 1 

ROBERT MONSEY ROLFE, 

BROTHER WYKEHAMISTS, 

THESE TRAVELS, 

ARE DEDICATED, 

BY 

THEIR OLD SCHOOL-FELLOTT 

AND AFFECTIONATE FRIEND, 

FRANCIS HALL. 



TRAVELS IN CANADA, 

kc. &c. 



CHAPTER I. 

VOVAGE. 

JamtarT/, 1816. 

I SAILED from Liverpool on the 20th of January, af- 
ter having been detained several weeks by a continu- 
ance of west winds, which usually prevail through 
the greater part of the winter. Indeed, they have 
become so prevalent of late years, as to approach 
very nearly to the nature of a trade wind. They 
forced us to lie to, twelve, out of the forty-four days 
we spent on our passage. Our vessel was an Ame- 
rican, excellently built and commanded. The Ame- 
rican Captains are supposed, with some reason, to 
make quicker voyages than the English, with whom 
celerity was, during the war, a less essential object. 
They pride themselves on the speed of their ships 
as sportsmen do on that of their horses. Our Mi- 
nerva was one of the first class of these " Horses of 
the Main." They prefer standing across the Atlan- 
tic in the direct line of their port, to the easier but 
more tedious route of the trades. This sporting 
spirit commonly costs their passengers a few qualms 
of the stomach, but saves time ; no trifling conside- 
ration, when time is so miserably spent. 

Landsmen, who shrink from the seemingly endless 
breadth of the whole Atlantic, commonly divide it 
into three distances, viz. : the Azore?, the Banks, 
and Soundings. Nothing occurred to make the lati- 



6 VOYAGE. 

tilde of the Azores cognizable by terrestrial eyes ; 
but the discolouring of the water, and a heavy in- 
cumbent fog sufficiently evinced our approach to the 
Banks ; these syniplonis were accompanied by the 
usual degree of cold, which indicates the proximity 
of land, whether above the water or below it. We 
made the following observations on the teoiperalure 
in this neighbourhood : 





Time. 


Air. Water. 


Feb. 14. 


6 p. M. 


66* 590 


15. 


9 A. M. 


53» 480 




10 A. M. 


500 430 




11 A. M. 


480 380 




1 P. M. 


460 330 




6 p. M. 


380 320 


IG. 


10 A. M. 


370 330 
Sauodings 35 feet. 


17. 


10 A. M. 


330 570 




2 p. M. 


400 570 


18. 


9 A. M. 


620 640 



19. 12 A. M. GO" 61»* 

We had eagerly anticipated a regale of cod fish on 
the Banks; lines were thrown out, and the silver 
mail of one victim soon glistened, as he ascended 
through the green wave ; but, alas ! he proved no 
harbinger of fortune, and it seemed as if he had been 
made the cat's paw of his mute society, who, by no 
means satisfied with the result of their first experi- 
ment, refused unanimously to repeat it. Luckily we 
were not imitating the heroes of the " Almanach des 
Oonrmands,'^ who in old and modern days, have made 
the grand tour of gluttony for the express purpose 
of surfeiting themselves at every classick spot with 
the delicacy which had won its renown. 

* Some of these variations seem to indicate the Tempera- 
ture of tlie Gulf stream, into which we were sometimes forced 
by the prevalence of N. W. winds, witliout knowing it; the 
American Captains very commonly use the Thermometer to 
ascertain this circumstance. 



VOyAGE. 7- 

On the 27tb, we touched on the Gulf Stream, 
where it flows round the Bank, and made the follow- 
ing observations : — 

Air. Water. Long. Lat. 



April 27. 


11 A. M. 


52" 


64" 


640 w. 


390 34' N. 


28. 


9 A. M. 


53<» 


630 






29. 


10 A.M. 


600 


540 


68" w. 


390 22' N. 


March 1. 


12 A M. 


62" 


480 


70O w. 


390 30' N. 


2. 


10 A. M. 


490 


45" 







It is to this difference of temperature betwixt the 
Gulf Stream and the adjacent waters, that M. Vojney 
attributes the Bank fogs. He observes, (Tome 1, 
Page 238,) 

♦' II en (toil risulter le double cffct cfunc evaporation plus 
" abondattte, provoquec par la tiedcur de ces cnux exoiiques 
" et d'unc condensation plus etcndue, a raison dc la froideur 
" des eaux indigenes ct dc leur almospMre, qui precisement 
*• sc trouve dans la direction dcs vents du nord-est.^^* 

There is some difficulty in this part of the voyage, 
to escape the action of the stream to the south, which 
soon begins to be sensible, and at the same time to 
avoid the dangerous shoals of Nantucket to the north. 

1 felt little concern about Nantucket, at this time, 
except to keep at a respectful distance from it ; but 
I have since met with some interesting particulars 
relative to this inglorious little island. Its inhabi- 
tants are reckoned at .OOOO, some of whom are worth 
20,000/. each. It contains 2:J,000 acres of land, and 
was originuily possessed by the Nantucks, an In- 
diiin tribe, some of whom still remain on it, having 
peaceably incorporated with the Europeans, and 
joined in their occupations. The soil was originally 
a barren sand, but the industry of the inhabitants has 

* Vide Humboldt's Observations on the Variations of Tera- 
perainre in the Gulf Stream, and on the Bank. — " Personal 
JS'arrative^'''' vol. 1, page .W. He observes a difference of only 
130 between them. This was in June. Vide, also, M. Voi- 
uey's Table of experiments, page 23.'j, in which the greatest 
difference is 2.3o. Ours was 31". 



8 VOYAGE. 

made it capable of pasturing large flocks of sheep, 
which constidited, in the infancy ofthe settlement, a 
common stock, but their chief employment is whale- 
ina;, at which they' are equally diligent and daring ; 
doubling Cape Horn in pursuit of their game. The 
profits of this trade afford them both the necessaries 
and cooiforts of life. The luxuries are forbidden 
both by their character and religion, which is unmix- 
ed Presbvterianism. The only recreation they used 
to allow themselves, was driving in parties to a little 
spot, which they rescued from barrenness, converted 
into a kind of publick garden. The traveller, from 
whom r borrow this account, gives a lively picture of 
their hospitality, and of the simplicity of their man- 
ners,* which supersedes the necessity of those inven- 
tions and restraints so inefficient in more polished so- 
cieties. The whole community affords an admirable 
instance of what human industry will effect, when 
left to the unshackled direction of its own exer- 
tions. They have, particularly the women, an odd 
habit of taking a small quantity of opium every morn- 
in*. It is difficult to divine whence they have im- 
ported this unwholesome luxury .f The only books 
this traveller found in the island, except the bible, 
where Hudibras and Josephus ; many of the inhabi- 
tants could repeat lines of the former, without haying 
much notion to what they referred. Martha's vine- 
yard is a settlement of much the same kind as Nan- 
tucket. It derives its name from that part of it 
which was originally the portion ofthe first settler's 
daughter. They formerly constituted part of the 
State of New York, but now of Massachusetts. 

The last few days of our passage were blest with 
such favouring gales, and an atmosphere so warm an'd 

* He mentions a great outcry raised in the commonwealth, 
by the luxury of a spring waggon. 

1 1 have since heard it remarked, that this practice is very 
general in America. 



i 



VOYAGE. y 

bright that the sea gods seemed resolved we should 
part good friends. — Unluckily this gleam of good for- 
tune was exii.'iguished in a cold heavy fog, when we 
approached the American coast, by which we were 
deprived of Ihe lovely prospect which opens upon 
the entrance of the harbour of New York. We 
anchored close to <he quays, and eagerly began to 
escape from the place of our durance, which Dr. 
Johnson flallers wlien lie sf^ les " it a prison, with a 
chance of being drowned." The chance of being 
drowned forms the least of its miseries. In most 
cases it is a complete annihilation of all faculties, both 
of mind and body : perhaps I should except that of 
mastication, which went on, generally with great vig- 
our, during the whole of the voyage. — I owe honour- 
able mention to our " Conipagnons tie Voi/age,'* 
who, though of many trades and nations, united in 
the maintenance of harmony, and in support of the 
general weal. We were about eighteen in number; 
among who.n were several Americans, who contri- 
buted their full share of good humour and sociability. 
"We disputed for the honour of our countries, but our 
disputes invariably ended, as, it were to be wished, 
all national disputes should end, in a hearty laugh ; 
and when I saw, during these forty-four days, how 
easily the jarring elements of our body corporate 
blended for general convenience, I was induced to 
think the rulers of the E irth take too much.both pains 
and credit unto themselves, for holding together the 
patch-work of society. 



[ 10 



CHAPTER II. 



NEW YORK 



March 5th. 

JSew York is biiiU on the tongue of land, at the 
point of which the Hudson and East rivers effect 
th^ir junction. The principal street (Broadway) 
runs along the ridge, and terminates in a small pa- 
rade, planted with trees, designed originally for a bat- 
tery ; a destiny it fulfilled during the war; but since 
" the piping time of peace," it has again reverted to 
the occupancy of fashionable pedestrians, and moon- 
light lovers. — From this point the eye commands, 
towards the left, the coast of Long Island, with the 
wooded heights of Brooklyn ; on the right, Sandy- 
Hook, with the mountain shores of Jersey ; while 
the mouth of the Bay lies before it, studded with 
bastioned islands, and gay with the white canvas of 
the American river craft, glancing like graceful sea- 
birds through their native element. From Broad- 
way, streets diverge irregularly to either river, and 
terminate in extensive warehouses, and quays, con- 
slantly crowded. The houses are generally good, 
frequently elegant, but it requires American eyes to 
discover that Broadway competes with the finest 
streets of London or Paris. New York is reckoned 
to contain at present about 100,000 inhabitants, and 
is spreading rapidly northward. I was told that 
2000 houses were contracted for, to be built in the 
ensuing year. There are fifty churches, or chapels, 
of dilferent sects ; a proof that a national church is 
not indispensable for the maintenance of religion. 



NEW YORK. 11 

The Town Hall is an elegant building of white 
marble, slanding at right angles to Broadway. The 
plot of ground in front of it is railed round and plant- 
ed. The interior is well arranged for the purposes of 
business. The state rooms of the Mayor and Cor- 
poration are ornamenlod wiMi the portraits of several 
of the Governours of iNew York, and whole lengths of 
the offiv'.ers most distinguished during the late war. 
Some of these seemed wed eKeruted ; but if the 
State should always reward upon as large a scale, 
their future heroes must consent to occupy the gar- 
rets of the building. There is a good portiait of the 
first Dutch Governourof the State. That of Colum- 
bus was repairing. It is a considerable defect in 
this builtlinj^, that the basement story is of a red 
granite, which, at a distance, has the appearance of 
brick. The staircase is circular, lighted by a cupo- 
la, and, in the style of its construction, not unlike 
that of Drury-lane theatre. The state rooms, and 
courts of justice are on the first floor. The sessions 
court was sitting during my visit, and I went in. 
My first impression arose from the truly republican 
plainness of justice, stripped of all " pomp and cir- 
cumstance," flowing wigs, ermine, and silk gowns. 
Both the Judges and Connsellors were in the dress 
of private gentlemen, the latter hardly to be distin- 
guished from the spectators, who, without much ce- 
remony, crowded roun<l tiie (iihuna!. A female was 
tried for stealing several hundred dollars ; she was 
found guilty, and sentenced to imprisonment. The 
punishment of death is abolished in the state of New 
York in all cases, except murder and arson : other 
crimes are pnnished by coriiinsrhont and labour. 
To America belongs the glory of having iiist made 
the experiment of the least waste of life with which^J. 
society can be preserved. The General Hospital 
and Lunatic Asylum are contiguous buildings. I 
had an opportunity of visiting them with one of the 
Physicians, and was pleased to observe the feeling 



12 NEW YORK. 

kindness of bis manner towards (he unfortunate vic- 
tims of insanity, who seemed to greet him as a 
friend. One patient was pointed out to us, whose 
delusion consisted in imagining himself black. 

I spent an evening at the theatre. It is a shabby 
building without, and poorly lighted and decorated 
within. The play was Columbus, a wretched hash 
of ditTerent plays and stories, miserably acted. The 
audience, like that of a Portsmouth theatre, consisted 
almost entirely of men. — I saw nothing resembling a 
Lady in the house, and but few females. The Ame- 
ricans are generally considered to have little taste for 
the drama ; or for musick, beyond what is necessary 
for a dance ; dancing being in New York, as in most 
parts of the world, the favourite amusement of the 
ladies ; they dance cotillions, because they fancy they 
excel in French dances, and despise country dances 
for the same reason. The young men have the cha- 
racter of being dissipated, living much apart from 
their families in boarding houses. Good dinners are 
in high esteem in the upper commercial circles, and 
I had occasion to bear witness both to the skill of 
their cooks, and the hospitality of the entertainers.* 

I was natiually curious to visit the famous Steam 
frigate, or Floating Battery, built for the defence of 
the harbour ; this favour I obtained through Dr. 
Mitchell, the great philosopher of New York, of 
whom it is tit to mention, that be has been lately en- 

* Two curious instances of disease were related at one of 
ttiese dinner parties by General North. One. of the tarantula 
infection, in which the siifl'erer, a female, was vehemently af- 
fected by rausirk. and the application of particular odours, in 
discovering which she evinced an acuteness of smell, infinitely 
beyond what is foimd in the healthful state. The other was 
the case of a female, who was attacked by lethargy, at the end 
of which her memory had wholly forsaken her, so that she was 
obliged to begin again the rudiments of education ; but upon a 
recurrence of the tit, a considerable time afterwards, she awoke, 
perfectly restored to a recollection of all she had known pre- 
vious to the (irst attack of the disease. 



NEW YORK. 13 

gaged in the Icfliyology of his country, and has dis- 
co\ered, or, to use Lis own expression, "can lift up 
his hand and declare," that the Smelt of the Trans- 
atlantic epicure is neither more nor less than the 
Smelt so honoured by European gourmands. He is 
besides a man of considerable mechanical science, 
and mentioned several of his plana for the impiove- 
ment of the Steam Frigate, in constructing whic h I 
believe he bore a principal part. One plan was to 
obviate the intolerable heat in the neighbourhood of 
the engines, by introducing fresh air thiouj2ti tubes 
near <he surlace of the water, bent upwards to pre- 
vent its entering. Another was to (li^charge from 
the engine a force of wafer sufficient to overwhelm 
any boarding boat, or drench the gun deck of any 
ship aloui^side. — The length of the frigate is 150 feet ; 
breadth of beam 50 ; and thickness of sides four 
feet. She works either way, and is said to be si/ffi- 
cienlly manageable, and well calculated for harbour 
defence. 

Considerable apprehensions were entertained dur- 
ing the war, of a domiciliary visit to New York by a 
British squadron. This alarm gave birth to the va- 
rious forts and batteries which now giin defiance on 
the different islets at the mouth of the ri\er, and pro- 
ject from several points along the (piays of the town. 
Fortifications were also thrown up on the op'posite 
heights of Brooklyn, on Long Island, where they 
command the city. I made a tour of them one morn- 
ing, and found five forts or redoubts connected by 
baslioned lines. The three on the right were cover- 
ed by an inundation, the remainder sufficiently ap- 
proachable. The whole are now abandoned, and 
hastening to decay. The soil of the island is sand, 
mixed with scattered blocks of talkous granite,* used 
for paving the city. 

* Besides Granite, I picked up Quartz with ChdVite, and Lt- 
dian stone. 



14 NEW FORK. 

There is a small museum in New York, the best 
part of which is a collection of birds, well preserved ; 
and (he T\'orst a sel of wax work figures, among whom 
are Saul in a Frenchman's embroidered coat, the 
Witch of Eiidor in the costume of a House-maid, and 
Samuel in a robe de chambre and cotton night-cap. 
The establishment is not in very learned hands, to 
judge by (he labels on the different Articles : I read 
on one, " a peace of Seder," vice " a piece of Cedar." 
I had little means of ascertaining the state of litera- 
ture in New York. Books were extremely dear : 
cheap editions are indeed struck off of all our modern 
Poets, but they are more expensive than books of 
the same size in England, and are miserably incor- 
rect. The Edinburgh and Quarterly Reviews are 
reprinted as soon as they arrive, and are in great re- 
quest ; but I could hear of no American Review or 
Magazine, which even American Booksellers would 
recommend. I met however with a few good works 
of native growth : Wilson's Ornithology is not only 
interesting for its descriptions, but the plates are exe- 
cuted and coloured in a very superiour style. I 
found a calculation in it relative to the flocks of wild 
pigeons, which move annually northward, from (he 
back of the central and southern states, enough to 
startle an European reader, but which has in a great 
measure been confirmed to me by eye witnesses. 
He says, " he observed a flock passing betwixt Franc- 
fort and the Indiana territory, one mile at least in 
breadth ; it took up four hours in passing, which, at 
the rate of one mile per minute, gives a length of 
240 miles, and supposing three pigeons (o each square 
yard, gives •2,230,272,000 pigeons." Their breed- 
ing places he describes as many miles in extent. 
Birds of prey glut themselves above, hogs and other 
animals are fattened with the squabs which tumble 
down, and cover the ground, on every high wind. 
This prodigious increase seems to resemble nothing 



NEW YORK. 15 

SO much as the herring shoals.* Indeed both the 
aerial and aquatick communities seem to stand in 
need of Mr. Malthus's checks to superabundant po- 
pulation. f It would be ingratitude to quit New York 
wiliiout mention of its erudite and right pleasant His- 
torian, Diedrioh Knickerbocker, J whose hislory of 
the first Dutch governours of the settlement deserves 
a favoured niche by the side of the revered Cid Ha- 
met Benengeli, and the facetious Biographer of ray 
Uncle Toby. 

* " The Turtle Doves are so nnmerous in Canada, that the 
Bishop has been forced to excommunicate them oftener than 
ouce, upon account of the damage they do to the produce of 
the earth. We embarked and made towards a meadow in the 
neighbourhood of which the trees were covered vvitli that sort 
of fowls more than with leaves. For just then it was the sea- 
son in which they retire from the north countries and lepair to 
the southern climates, and one would have thought that all the 
Turtle Doves upon earth had chosen to pass through this place." 
— Labontan. 1. Letter xi. 1687. 

f To preserve the skins of birds, Mr. Wilson recommends a 
strong solution of arsenick to be rubbed within side, and a lit- 
tle powdered arsenick to be sprinkled outwardly, with camphor 
in the box. 

t Washington Irvine, Esq. 



[ 16 ] 



CHAPTER III. 



STEAM BOAT. 



1 EMBARKED On (he 9th of March, in the Paragon 
steam pickel, iVoin New York to Albany. The 
winter had been less severe than usual, which induc- 
ed the captain to attempt making his way up the 
Hudson earlier than is customary. Tliese steam 
boats are capable of accommodating from 2 to 300 
passengers ; they are about 1*20 feet in length, and as 
elegant in their construction as the awkward-looking 
machinery in the centre will permit. There are two 
caDins, one for the ladies, into which no genUeman is 
admitted vvilhout the concurrence of the whole com- 
pany. The interior arrangements, on the whole, re- 
semble those of our best packets. I was not without 
apprehension, that a dinner in such a situation, for 
above 150 persons, would very much resemble the 
scratnble of a mob ; I was however agreeably surpris- 
ed by a dinner handsomely served, very good atten- 
dance, and a general attention to quiet and decorum : 
" Truly, thought I, these republicans are not so 
barbarous." Indeed when the cabin was lighted up 
for tea and sandwiches in the evening, it more re- 
sembled a ball-room supper, than, as might have been 
expected, a stage-coach meal. The charge, includ- 
ing board, from New York to Albany, 160 miles, is 
seven dollars. 

We started under the auspices of a bright frosty 
morning: The first few minutes were naturally spent 
by me in examining the machinery, by means of 
which our huge leviathan, with such evident ease, 



STEAM BOAT. 



17 



won her way against the opposing current : but naore 
inferesling objects are breaking fast on the view ; on 
our right are the sloping sides of New York Island, 
studded wilh villas, over a soil from which the band 
of cultivation has long since rooted its woodland glo- 
ries, substituting the more varied decorations of park 
and shrubbery, intersected with brown stubbles and 
meadows ; while on our left, the bold features of na- 
ture rise, as in days of yore, unimpaired, unchangea- 
ble ; grey clitfs, like aged battlements, tower perpen- 
dicularly from the water's edge to the height of seve- 
ral hundred feet.* Hickory, dwarf oak, and stunt- 
ed cedars, twist fantastically within their crevices, 
and deepen the shadows of each glen into which they 
Occasionally recede ; huge masses of disjointed rocks 
are scattered at intervals below ; here the sand has 
collected sufficiently to afford space for the wood- 
man's hut, but the narrow waterfall, which in summer 
turns his saw-mill, is now a mighty icicle glittering to 
the morning sun ; here and there a scarcely percepti- 
ble track conducts to the rude wharf, from which the 
weather-worn lugger receives her load of timber for 
the consumption of the city. A low white monu- 
ment near one of these narrow strands marks the spot 
on which the good and gallant Hamilton offered the 
sacrifice of his life to those prejudices, which noble 
minds have so seldom dared to despise. He cross- 
ed from the State of New York to evade the laws of 
his country, and bow to those of false shame and mis- 
taken honour. His less fortunate adversary still sur- 
vives in New York, as obscure and unnoticed as he 
was onc^^eonspicuous. 

Evening began to close in as we approached the 
highlands : The banks on either side towered up 
more boldly, and a wild tract of mountain scenery 
rose beyond them : The river, which had been gra- 

* The whole of this ridge closely resembles Undercliffin the 
Isle of Wight. 

3 



lif STEAM BOAT. 

dually widening, now expanded into a capacious lake, 
to which the eje could distinguish no outlets ; flights 
of wild fowl were ski.nming over its smooth surtace 
to their evening shelter, and the la>?t light of day i est- 
ed faintly on a few white farm houses, ^iimtnering at 
intervals from the darkening thickets : Verplank's 
Point shuts the northern extremity of this tirsl basin: 
The River continues its course within a cliif-bound 
channel, until, afrer a few miles, it again opens out 
amid I he frowning precipices of West Poini : Here 
are the sauie features of scenery as at Verplank's 
Point, but loftier mountains skirt the lake ; and cliffs 
of more ffi'^intic stature almost impend above the 
gliding sail.*' The moon was riding in a cloudless 
sky, and as her silver colouring fell on the grey clitfs 
of the left banks, the mountains on the other side 
projected their deepened shadows, with encreased 
solemnity, on the unruffled waters. 

This was the land of romance to the early settlers: 
Indian tradition had named the Highlands the prison 
within which Maneiho confined the spirits rebellious 
to his power, until the mighty Hudson, rolling through 
the stupendous defiles of West Point, burst asunder 
their prison house ; but they long lingered near the 
place of their captivity, and as the blasts howled 
through the valleys, echo repeated their groans to 
the startled ear of the solitary hunter, who watched 
by his pine-tree fire for the approach of morning. 
The lights, which occasionally twinkled from the se- 
questered bay, or wooded promontory, sufficiently 
told that these fancies, like the Indians, who had in- 
vented or transmitted them, must by this time have 
given way to the unpoetick realities of civilised life. 

Masses of floating ice, which had, at intervals 
through the evening, spilt upon the bow of our ark, 
became so frequent immediately on our passing West 

* Tlie average of these heights is probably about 800 feet ; 
the highest is reckoned at 1100. 



STEAM BOAT. 19 

Point, as to oblige us to come to anchor for the night ; 
a pretty sure prognostick (hat there was nearly an 
end to our fealher-bed travelling. The next morn- 
ing we found ourselves lying close to the flourishing 
little sefHement of Newburgh, on the right bank of 
the river : Our captain having concluded to terrai- 
na(e his voyage here, moved over to Fishkill, on the 
opposite shore, to give us means of accommodating 
ourselves with conveyances, in the best way we 
could. 



[ 20 ] 



CHAPTER IV. 



NEW YORK TO ALBANY. 



March lOtL. 


Verplank's- Point, 


44 miles, 




West Point, 


14 




Newburgli, ) 
Fishkill, S 


8 , 




11th. 


Poughkeepsie, 


14 




Rhiuebeck, 


20 


12th. 


Clermont, 






Kioderhook, 


40 




Schodach, Van Valtenburgs, 


8 


13th. 


Albany, 


12 

160 Miles 



We were conveyed to Poughkeepsie in a kind of 
covered car( : The West-Point hills lay in a long 
ridge behind us, stretching east and west. The 
country through which we passed, though coaipa- 
ratively low, undulated in the same direction. 
About three miles from Fishkill a wild torrent rush- 
ed over its bed of broken rocks, across the road : 
The romantick bridge flung over its brawling course, 
the mill on its craggy banks, and the deep wood- 
en glen, down which it hastens to the Hudson, 
deserve a place in every traveller's journal. Pough- 
keepsie was the first country town, or rather village, 
I had seen ; and as the features of all are much alike, 
it shall be described for a specimen. Houses of wood, 
roofed with shingles, neatly pannted, with generally 
from four to six sash windows on each floor, two sto- 
ries high, and a broad veranda, resting on neat wood- 
en pillars, along the whole of the front : such is the 



NEW YORK TO ALBANY. 21 

common style of house-building through the whole 
State : It unites to cleanly neatness a degree of ele- 
gance, confined in England to the cottage ornee ; but 
here common to all houses ; very few sink to a meaner 
fashion: this seems strange to the eye accustomed to 
a hundred wretched hovels for one habitation of grace- 
ful comfort ; but poverty has not yet wandered beyond 
the limits of great towns in America; in the country 
every man is a land owner, and has competence with- 
in his grasp ; " O forfunatos nimium sua si bona 
norint." The whole of this beautiful passage may 
be well applied to American farmers : To them the 
earth is " most just," for they are industrious and 
enterprising, and they have not yet discovered the 
necessity of yielding 19 parts of their earnings to 
their Government, to take care of the remaining 
20th. At Poughkeepsie, as in almost all American 
towns, are two or three large inns, in which dinner 
is provided at a certain hour, for all travellers en 
masse I nor is it an 6asy matter any where to pro- 
cure a separate meal ; indeed privacy, either in 
eating, sleeping, conversation, or government, seems 
quite unknown and unknowable to the Americans, to 
whom it appears, whether political or domestick, a 
most unnatural as well as unreasonable desire, which 
only Englishmen are plagued with. 

There is no want of churches, either here or in 
any other village of this state, but they are all built 
of the sf'.nie perishable materials : Mr. Jefferson, in 
his " Notes on Virginia," objects to this method of 
building, which adds nothing to the riches of the 
stale ; but as long as wood continues plentiful and 
labour dear, houses will be built in the readiest and 
cheapest manner. The same fashion was once 
general in our own country : Knickerbocker, in his 
humorous way, thus describes this passion of the 
Yankee settler for building large wooden houses^ 
" Improvement is his darling passion, and having 
thus improved his lands, the next care is to provide 



22 NEW FORK TO ALBANT. 

mansion worthy the residence of a landholder. A 
biJ2;e pnlace of pineboards immediately springs up 
in fhe midst of the wilderness, large enough for a 
parish church, and furnished with windows of all 
dimensions, but so rickety and flimsy withal, that 
every biant gives it a fit of the ague. By the time 
the outside of this mighty air castle is completed, 
either the funds or the zeal of our adventurer are 
exhausted, so that he barely manages to half finish 
one room within, where the whole family burrow to- 
gether, while the rest of the house is devoted to the 
curing of pumpkins, or storing of carrots and pota- 
toes, and is decorated with fanciful festoons of wilt- 
ed peaches and dried apples. The outside, re- 
mainiriE; unpainted, grows venerably black with time : 
The family wardrobe is laid under contribution for 
old hats, petticoats, and breeches, to stuff into the 
broken windows. The humble log hut, which whil- 
ome nestled this improving family snugly within its 
narrow but comfortable walls, stands hard by in ig- 
no:ni:iious contrast, degraded into a cowhouse or 
pig-stye; and the whole scene reminds one forcibly 
of a fable, which, I am surprised has never been 
recorded, of an aspiring snail, who quitted his hum- 
ble habitation, which he filled with great respecta- 
bility, to crawl into the empty shell of a lobster, 
where he would no doubt, have resided in great style 
an 1 splendour, the envy and hate of all the pains- 
taking snails of his neighbourhood, had he not acci- 
dentally perished with cold in one corner of his stu- 
pendous mansion." 

About a mile from Poughkeepsie we were sur- 
prised to meet a very handsome covered sociable, 
drawn by four excellent horses, sent, we were told 
for the accommodation of the gentleman I was ac- 
companying to Canada: almost at the same instant, a 
mounted courier rode up to tell us bis master bad 
vehicles prepared for us ; this extraordinary zeal 
arose from the competition of these two proprie- 



NEW YORK TO ALBANY. '23 

tors, who had heard of our coming, and probable 
wants, IVora some fellow passengers, who had a few 
ininules start of us; we had considerable difficulty 
in adjusting their civil claims, _y ielding however the 
paiiu of preference to the one who had so actively 
exhibited a specimen of his means: He engaged to 
convey ourselves, four servants, and baegage, to 
Albany, for 150 dollars: a charge we found so rea- 
sonable that we made him some additional conspen- 
salion at the end of the journey. Let therefore 
Mr. Butler's name, carriage, horses, and diivers, 
descend with honour to posterity, should posterity 
ever make inquiiies about him, or them. What 
precise proportion of this moderation was owing to 
the strong spirit of opposition betwixt him and his 
neighbour, may be left to the calculating conjectures 
of the worldly reader. 

At Kitiderhook we found a militia court martial 
going forward. Curiosity induced us to step for a 
moment into the " Hall of Justice," where a scene 
presented itself on which Hogarth would have ban- 
queted : The Colonel President sat at the head of 
the table ; a cocked hat, equal in size to three de- 
generate Wellingtons of modern days, with a crim- 
son feather, adorned his untrimmed locks, " but red- 
der than the plume so red," a nose, all gemmed and 
carbuncled, flamed beneath it ; a coloured silk hnnd- 
kerchief was lied loosely round his neck ; before 
him stood a large jug of whiskey punch, and beside 
it the swords of his fellow judges btmtlled together, 
while their owners, in heterogeneous garb, half-farm- 
er, half-soldier, sate round the table, posing, in quaint 
phrase of guessing, and mistering, the witnesses, 
who, to prevent discordant evidence, were all placed 
in court to bear one another's story. 

W^e slept this night at the village of Scbodach, 
where the clean little inn, and obliging family of 
Mr. Van Valtenburgh merit our grateful remem- 
brance ; the whole establishment is a pattern of 



24 NEW YORK TO ALBANF. 

Dutch neatness, willi not a liftle of English com- 
fort: It was the more agreeable to us, from our hav- 
ing here first got rid of the train of passengers, who 
were turned out with ourselves from the steam boat, 
and had been flooding every inn we came to ever 
since : I found, among a small collection of hooks 
belonging to Miss Van Valtenburgh, Miss Eda;e- 
worth's " Patronage ;" indeed I went into few 
American houses, without meeting with some of our 
popular works. Surely it must be no inconsiderable 
source of gratification to such writers as Scott and 
Edgeworth, to think their productions are circulated, 
*' to raise the morals, and amend the hearts" of tlie 
dwellers on the Hudson, and the borderers of Lake 
Charnplain. 

We approached Albany through a country gently 
undulating, and pretty thickly intersected with for- 
ests, from which, however, their noblest timber has 
been almost wholly extracted. On the right bank 
of the Hudson, a bold ridge of mountains extends 
from Katskill to the neigbourhood of Albany, (called 
the Katskill Ridge)* altogether in the direction of 
the river. Dr. Mitchell found the basis of these 
mountains to consist of the same freestone as that of 
the Blue Ridge, of which he conceives them to be a 
prolongation, and to mark the limit betwixt the re- 
gion of freestone and that of granite. Nearly oppo- 
site to Albany is Greenbush, a large wooded hill, 
on which are barracks, it is said, for near 10,000 
men. We found a regular road to the town across 
the ice, and prepared, not without some misgivings 
for the future, to part from Mr. Butler's excellent 
four-in-hand. 

* The highest point of this ridge has been estimated at 
3549 feet. Vide Volnej, " Tableau du Climat," &{c. torn. i. 
p. 35. 



[25 3 



CHAPTER VI. 



ALBANY. 



It is curious to find a considerable remnanl of feudal- 
ism in a young democracy of North America. This, 
however, is the case in the neighbourhood of Al- 
bany. A Dutch gentleman, Mr. Van Rensselaer, sfill 
retains the title of Patroon ; his seigniories are said to 
extend over thirty miles of territory, burthened with 
all the catalogue of incidents, fines, tolls, quit-rents, 
reservations, proprietorships of mills, &c. &c. com- 
mon to old European tenures. Many of the neighbour- 
ing villages continue almost entirely Dutch, among 
which, improvement, probably from the above cir- 
cumstance, goes on very slowly. The town of Alba- 
nv has a gaj?, thriving appearance, with nothing 
Dutch about it but the names of some of its inhabi- 
tants. What traces of primeval manners still linger 
in their domestic economy, I am not entitled to de- 
cide : the historian of New York, in the first volume 
of his erudite Researches, p. 1.57, does indeed charge 
"some families in Albany" with still keeping up an 
economical expedient of their ancestors for sweeten- 
ing tea, viz. by suspending " a large lump of sugar di- 
rectly over the tea-table, by a string from the ceiling, so 
that it coidd be swung from mouth to mouth." It is 
probable, however, he found some reason to doubt 
the continuance of this custom, during his last visit to 
Albany, after the publication of his work : vide an 
" Account of the Author," prefixed to his history, p. 
ix. One specimen of Dutch manners did indeed fall 
under my own observation at Schodach. An old 
lady, who had finished her morning drive before we 

4 



L 



26 ALBANY. 

had begun ourfs, was saluted by oiir landlord's daugh- 
ter with (he pristine ceremony of a small stove of 
warm coals, decorously introduced beneath her full- 
flowing petticoats. 

Albany being the seat of government for New 
York, has a parliament-house, dignified with the name 
of the Capitol, which, as in duty bound, stands upon 
a hill, and has a lofty coluinned porch ; but as the 
building is but small, it looks all porch. There is a 
miserable little museum here, with a group of waxen 
figures, representing the execution of Louis XV I., 
brouglit from France : it is impossible not to give 
them the praise of being natural, if a ghasty sem- 
blance of life, so close as to make one start, deserve 
the name. The furious attitude of the executioner, 
stretching out his arms from the top of the scaffold- 
steps,, eager to receive his victim; the hard counte- 
nance of the commis, seated, with his watch in his 
hand, to minute down the fatal stroke ; the features 
of the unfortunate king, " Fallens morte futtird,^^ all 
possess this merit in no small degree. While I was 
looking through the rauseuui, three Oneida Indians, 
the first 1 had seen, came to the keeper to borrow 
some articles of Indian dress and armoury to exhibit 
that evening at the theatre. They wore pretty near- 
ly the European dress, excepting a kind of cloak fold- 
ed over one shoulder, and a ribbon round their hats. 
The spokesman of the three, a very handsome young 
man, was, I was told, son to the principal chief. I 
saw him on the stage in the evening, beating a kind of 
drum, and accompanying the war-dance of his com- 
panions with alow monotonous song. It seemed a 
melancholy sight: the sons of the once free masters 
of the soil exhibiting themselves to the scornful mirth 
of those who had spoiled them of their inheritance. 

To be robbed, corrupted, and degraded is the in- 
variable lot of the Indian who comes in contact with 
the civilization of Europe. Nobler he, 

" Who forward rushes with indignant grief, 
" Where never foot has trod the fallen leaf." 



i ^2.. 



E 27 ] 
CHAPTER VJr. 

* THE FA'V.S of the MOHAWK. 

Vv HATEVEK a country aflfords worth seeing, take 
the first opportunity to see it. This simple rule 
would prevent many such posthumous lamentations, 
and lame " buts;" as, *' I am very sorry I omitted 
going, but I thought [ should have returned by the 
same road." " I fully intended seeing i(, but the 
weather was so unfavourable, that 1 deferred it 'til" 
— when ? 

" Some period, no where to be found 
" In all the hoary register of time." 

As nothing sounds so ill to one's self or others, I de- 
termined (o visit the falls of the Mohawk, the same 
day I arrived at Albany ; though I was told we 
should pass within a (ew yards of them on the mor- 
row, which did not turn out to be the case. The 
Cohoz*, or falls of the Mohawk, are little more than 
half a mile from the junction of the two rivers : their 
extreme breadth is about three hundred toises, which 
is much more than the mean breadth of the stream, 
both above and below them, being increased by the 
manner in whit.h the ledge of rocks forms an obtuse 
angle, in the direction of the current. f Their height 

* Le nom de Cohoz me paroit un mot imitatif conserve des Sauvages, et 
par un caa singiilier, je I'ai retroiive dans le pays de Liege, applique i une 
petite cascade, a trois lieues de Spa." — Volney, p. 125. 

f " The bed of the falls is of serpentine stone." — Volney, 
Tableau, 1. i 51. He observes, that the bed of the Mohawk 
seems to separate the region of freestone- from that of granite. 



28 THE FALLS OF THE MOHAWK. 

does not, perhaps, exceed 50 feet.* The banks 
above them are nearly on a level with the water, but 
are increased below by the depth of the falls. In 
summer, the overflow is said to be scanty, and even 
at this season a cap of snow rested on the most promi- 
nent cliff of the angle, from beneaUi which the stream 
filtered in silver veins. The v'uole effect of these 
falls, the broadest, I believe, in the States, excepting 
Niagara, is diminished for want of the relief of a bold, 
darkly-shadowed back-ground. The air of wintry 
desolation, varied only by the sombre foliage of the 
pine and cedar, stretching their dark masses over 
beds of snow, took little from the rude force of a 
scene, the character of which is rather simply grand, 
than lovely or romantick. There is a very good point 
of view from a long covered bridge, which crosses 
the Mohawk near its mouth, and leads to the village 
of Waterford. The distance from Albany is about 
ten miles. 

. * Volney says, •' some reckon it at 65 feet, others only 50." 
The Marquis de Chastellux makes it 75. He also visited it in 
winter, and observes, " The picture was rendered still more 
" terrible by the snow which covered the filrs, the brilliancy 
"of which gave a black colour to the water, gliding gently 
" alonv. and a yellow tinge to that which w»s washing over the 
"cataract." 



129] 
CHAPTER Vm. 

ALBANY TO THE FRONTIER OF CANADA. 



March 14th. Troy, 


6 miles. 


Lansingburg, 


3 


Schatecoke, 


3 


Pittstown, 


7 


Cambridge, 


13 


Porter's Inn, 


2 


' Robert's Inn, 


6 


15tb. Salem, 


8 


Hebron, 


8 


Hopkin's Inn, 


4 


Granville, 


5 


16th. Whitehall, or ) 
Skeensborough, ) 


14 Stage W 


Shoreham, ) 


25 


Larenburg'f Inn, S 


17th. Chimney Point, 


14 


Basin Harbour, 


12 


IVl'Niel's Inn, 


9 


Burlington, 


12 


Plattsburg, 


21 


Chazy, 


20 


Inn, 


7 


~ Isle aux Nois, 


12 Sleighs. 



211 



Troy is a little short of a mile in length, and bears 
every mark of growing opulence. There is a large 
barrow-formed mount, at the end of the town, on the 
road side, which, though evidently a natural rock, 
might represent the tomb of Ilus to this new Ilium, 
were Yankey imaginations disposed to run classically 
riot. The road runs pleasantly on the banks of the 
Hudson, which here form a long stripe of flat giound, 
evidently an alluvion, about a mile in breadth, beyond 
which the hills again rise, intersecting the country in 



30 



ALBANY TO THE 



a N. W. direction. Behvixt Pitfsfown and Cam- 
bridge we crosseil the Hoosick river, and continued 
our way through a wild and mountainous country, 
whose remoter heights were now fading in evening 
mists. From Pittstown we had quitted the course 
of the Hudson, and moving in a N. E. direction, 
were failing in with the various chains of hills which 
spring laterally from the great N. E. chain of the 
West Point mountains. Salem is beautifully embo- 
somed amid these ramifications, which seem to divide 
the low country into a nu;nber of separate basins, 
each watered by its own sequestered stream. Mas- 
ses of slaty rock are every where scattered through 
the coiintry. L itid, we were informed, was worth 
abotit 20/. per acre; a considerable sum, where it is 
so plentiful. The Americans, who are never defi- 
cient wiien improvement is in view, have introduced 
the use of gypsum, as the most transportable, as well 
as the most profitable, manure. A farmer here, with 
who n, as is usual in the States, we fell into conver- 
sation, informed us that the average quantity employ- 
ed was three pecks per acre, united with the seed: 
that it was of great service to clover; and well em- 
ployed on all sandy or gravelly soils, adding a curious 
rei'iark, if correct, that it produces no effect on land 
within thirty miles of the sea.* 

Granville is situated in one of these mountain ba- 
sins, and is but a few miles from the foot of the Green 
and Bald mountains, which form the continuation of 
the great chain. The streams in this neighbourhood 
no longer fall into the Hudson, but make a northerly 
course to Lake Cham plain. At Granville we quit- 
ted the m tin north road, to go to Whitehall, and take 
the benefit of sleighs across the lake. I observed a 

* This remark I tiave heard confirmed by well informed per- 
sons in the States. The most common theory of the use of 
gyps'i.n seems to be its disjiosition to attract moisture, thus 
remedyiug the defects of dry warm soils. 



FRONTIER OF CANADA. 31 

quantity of red clay-slale in this neighboiirliooil, re- 
sembling the cliffs of the St. Lawrence near Quebec. 
The aspect of the country retiiained much the same, 
only growing more wild and wintry as we proceeded. 
The snow which had hitherto been partial, now be- 
gan to impede the progress of our waggon, which had 
been moving at the rate of three and a half miles per 
hour. We were frequently obliged to alight, and 
walk down steep hills, thickly encrusted with ice and 
snow. A fine bear had preceded us, as we discover- 
ed by his large round foot prints, but he was not 
complaisant enough to show himself from some crag- 
gy knoll, and welcome us to his solitude. A small 
ground squirrel was the only specimen of bird or 
beast we encountered. The valley closes in as you 
approach Whitehall, until its lofty barriers barely 
leave space sufficient for the site of the village, and 
the course of a small river, called Wood-creek, which 
rushes into the lake, with a small cascade ; its right 
bank rises perpendicularly several hundred feet: strata 
of dark grey liaie-stone, disposed at regular parallels, 
exhibit an appearance of masonry so perfect as to 
require a second glance to convince one a wall is not 
built up from the bed of the stream. The heights 
on the opposite side of the valley are equally bold, 
and marked with the same character ; their summits 
are every where darkened with forests of oak, pine, 
and cedar ; large detached masses of granite are scat- 
tered generally through the valley, and among the 
houses of the village, which like several others on our 
road, very much resembled a large timber-yard, from 
the quantity of wood cutting up and scattered about for 
purposes of building : indeed it is impossible to travel 
through the Stales without taking part with the unfor- 
tunate trees, who, unable like their persecuted fel- 
lows of the soil, the Indians, to make good a retreat, 
are exposed to every form and species of destruction 
Yankee convenience or dexterity can invent ; felling, 
burning, rooting up, tearing down, lopping, and chop- 



!32 ALBANY TO TH£ 

ping, are all employed with most unrelenting severity. 
We passed through many forests whose leafless 
trunks, blackened with fire, rose above the underwood, 
like lonely colunans, while their flat-wreathed roots 
lay scattered about, not unlike the capitals of Egyp- 
tian architecture. 1 believe some traveller has ob- 
served that there are no large trees in America, an 
observation not very wide of the truth, to judge from 
what may be seen from the high road ; a few steps 
however into any of the woods, shew that they have 
abounded in very fine timber, numerous remains of 
which are every where left standing; but the ex- 
treme prodigality with which the finest timber trees 
have been employed, being often piled together to 
make fences, and so left to rot, has begun to pro- 
duce a comparalive scarcity, especially near large 
towns, which has considerably increased the value of 
the property of woodland. 

At Whitehall we embarked in sleighs on Lake 
Champlaiu ; the afternoon was bright and mild, and 
well disposed us to enjoy the pleasing change from 
our snailpaced waggon to the smooth rapidity of a 
sleigh, gliding at the rate of nine miles an hour. The 
fiirst object our driver was happy to point out to us, 
was several of our own flotilla, anchored near the 
town, sad " trophies of the fight." The head of the 
lake called " the Narrows," does not exceed the 
breadth of a small river; the sides rise in lofty cliffs, 
whose grey strata sometimes assume the regular di- 
rection of the mason's level, sometimes form an an- 
gle more or less acute with the horizon, and some- 
times, particularly in projecting points, seem almost 
vertical to it. Our driver pointed out a curious fis- 
sure in the left bank, called the " devil's pulpit ;" 
it is in about the centre of the cliff, and seems broken 

with great regularity, much in this figure \ /. 

Tyconderoga point stands out in an attitude of 
defiance to those who ascend the lake, but its martial 
terrors are now extinguished, or marked only by the 



FRONTIERS OF CANADA. 38 

crumbling remains of field works, and the ruin of an 
old fortified barrack. Lake George unites with Lake 
Chaujplain, at the foot of this mountain point, by a 
narrow stream, on the right bank of which, rises 
Mount Defiance, aud on the opposite side of Lake 
Champlain, Mount Independence ; names which be- 
speak their military fame in days of old, but now, 
like retired country gentlemen, they are content to 
raise oak and pine woods, instead of frowning batte- 
ries. At Shorehara, nearly opposite to Crown Point, 
we found good accommodation for the night, at Mr. 
Larenburg's tavern, and set off the next morning be- 
fore breakfast ; but we had soon cause to repent of 
thus committing ourselves fasting to the mercy of the 
elements. The lake now began to widen, and the 

r^shores to sink in the same proportion ; the keen blasts 
of the north, sweeping over its frozen expanse, 
pierced us with needles of ice ; the thermometer was 
22** below zero ; buffalo hides, bear skins, caps, 
shawls and handkerchiefs were vainly employed 
against a degree of cold so much beyond our habits. 
Our guide/ alone of the party, his chin and eye-lashes 
gemmed and powdered with the drifting snow, boldly 
set his face and his horses in the teeth of the storm. 
Sometimes a crack in the ice would compel us to 
wait, while he went forward to explore it with his 
axe, (without which, the American sleigh-drivers sel- 
dom travel,) when, having ascertained its breadth, 
and the foothold on either side, he would drive his 
horses at speed, and clear the fissure, with its snow 
ridge, at a flying leap ; a sensation we found agreea- 
ble enough, but not so agreeable as a good inn and 

^dinner at Burlington. Burlington is a beautiful lit- 
tle town, rising from the edge of the lake ; the prin- 
cipal buildings are disposed in a neat square ; on a 
hill above the town stands the college, a plain brick 
building, the greater part of which is unoccupied, 
and seemingly unfinished. 

5 



34 ALBA^fT TO THE 

We crossed the next morning to Plaftsbiirgh, curi- 
ous to view the theatre of our misfortunes; it is a 
flourishing little town, situated principally on the left 
Bank of the Saranac, a litlle river, which, falling into 
the lake, makes, wilh an adjacent island, and Cum- 
berland Point, a convenient bay, across which the 
American fiotilla lay anchored, (o receive our attack ; 
the untoward issue of which, decided the retreat of 
Sir George Prevost's army. We were particular in 
our inquiries into the position of the flotilla, that we 
might ascertain whether, as has been asserted, they 
were within cannon range from the shore ; this we 
found at no time to have been the case, so that no 
movement on our part by land, could have influenced 
the event of the naval action. The fortifications are 
on the right bank of the Saranac ; the American com- 
mandant obligingly conducted us through them ; they 
consist of two square forts palisadoed, but with neith- 
er out-works, nor covered way. This oflScer inform- 
ed us, that they had not even their gates hung when 
our army first arrived before them. Our retreat 
surprised them as much as it did many of our own 
people ; it must however be observed, that though 
little or no doubt existed, that the works if attacked, 
would have been carried, the object of the expedition 
fell to the ground with the loss of the flotilla, by 
means of which alone, the transport of stores and 
provisions could have been secured. The fight 
must have been for honour only, and Sir George Pre- 
vost certainly took the boldest part when he declin- 
ed it. 

" Travelling, after all," says Madame de Stael, 
" is but a melancholy pleasure ;" an observation doub- 
ly true, if applied to travelling over an uniform surface 
of ice, in very cold weather. Curiosity freezes un- 
der such circumstances, and the only prospect which 
rouses attention is the inn, or village, which is to af- 
ford the comforts of food and fire. I observed, how- 
ever, that the shores of the lake gradually sunk down 



FRONTIERS OF CANADA. 35 

to the level of the waler, while the mountain ridges 
fell off to the right and left, leaving a broad and near- 
ly level expanse of wood and water. Traces of cul- 
tivation diminished as we approached the frontier ; a 
few solitary houses, commonly the resort of smug- 
glers, were scattered on the shore, embosomed in 
forests of a most uninviting aspect. Betwixt Cham- 
plain and Isle aux Noix, travellers take leave of 
America, and enter on the Canadian territory. A 
few words then on the American character, ere I and 
they part. 



CHARACTER OF THE AMERICANS. 

It is a bold enterprise, to describe the habits, man- 
ners, and dispositions of a nation, after a fifteen days' 
journey through it ; but here I am encouraged by the 
example of all my travelling contemporaries of both 
hemispheres, whose courage in this respect, has gain- 
ed them the proverbial reputation of a race of men, 
who are never dastardly enough to shrink from the 
task, on account of mere want of information, but who 
are always ready to depicture both the exteriour and 
interiour of the inhabitants they happen to catch a 
glimpse of, through the windows of their travelling 
carriage, with as much accuracy, 

" As though they bad stood by 
" And seen them made. 

A great help in these cases is the labour of our pre- 
decessors, by whose means their followers are ena- 
bled to transmit a lie, unpolluted, to posterity. Now 
as there can be little doubt that such benevolent aid, 
has been ever intended rather for the poor than the 
rich. I shall begin by begging the helping hand of 
ray friend Knickerbocker, over an explanation of the 
term Yankie, generally applied to the New England 



36 CHARACTER OF THE AMERICANS. 

ers, both by us and themselves. The first settlers 
of New England, were the Puritans, and other secta- 
ries, who, persecuted and butfeted at home, "embark- 
ed for the wilderness of America, where they might 
enjoy unmolested the inestimable luxury of talking. 
No sooner did they land upon this loquacious soil, 
than as if they had caught the disease from the cli- 
mate, they all lifted up their voices at once, and for 
the space of one whole year did keep up such a joy- 
ful clamour, that we are told, they frightened every 
bird and beast out of the neighbourhood, and so com- 
pletely dumb-founded certain fish, which abound on 
their coast, that they have been called ' dumb-fish' 
ever since. The simple aborigines of the land for a 
while contemplated these strange folk in utter asto- 
nishment, but discovering that they wielded harmless, 
though noisy weapons, and were a livelj , ingenious, 
good-humoured race of men, they became very friend- 
ly and sociable, and gave them the name of Yankies, 
which, in the Mais-Tchsuaeg (or Massachusett) lan- 
guage signifies * silent men ;' a waggish appellation 
since shortened into the familiar epilhet of Yankies, 
which they retain unto the present day." — I. p. 178. 
Nor have they retained a barren epithet, but are still 
eminent for the facility with which they engage in 
conversation. One table for meals is st^ge-coach fare 
even in England : one bed-room, containing a dozen 
beds may be tolerated in a country new to the luxu- 
ries of travelling ; but the spirit of sociability is a lit- 
tle excessive, when, as I have been told, it enjoins 
the traveller to halve his bed with whoever arrives 
too late to procure one for himself. I had often oc- 
casion to observe, the Aniericans have no idea of a 
private chit-chat betwixt two persons. I have seve- 
ral times fancied myself engaged tgfe-a-tete, when on 
raising my eyes, I have found a little circle formed 
round us, fully prepared with reply, rejoinder, or 
observation, as opportunity might occur : let me, 
however, add without any intention of rudeness : im= 



CHARACTER OF THE AMERICANS. '37 

perlinence I never nie( wilb, though Ihey have some- 
tioies ralher a startling plaiiines:^ in their mariner of 
conveying their senlinients. On our arrival at Pough- 
keepsie, a plain man stepped from the croud round 
the inn-door, and addressing himself lo the gentleman 
I was accompanying, (who had been appointed to the 
administration of Lower Canada,) wished hirn joy of 
his arrival, congratulated him on the peace between 
the two nations, and concluded by hoping he would 
not follow the example of his predecessor ; a kind 
of schoolingj^to which 1 believe their own rulers are 
no strangers. In fact, the art of government, that 
tremendous state engine, is no mystery here ; both 
men and measures are canvassed with equal freedom ; 
and, sitting aside the bias of party feeling, with a de- 
gree of good sense and information, most probably 
unique in the mass of any nation on earth. The late 
war was spoken of with equal detestation by all par- 
ties ; and so far did they seem from assuming any 
credit for engaging in it, that each party most studi- '4 ^ 

ously shifted the odium to the otlier. I could per- 
ceive none of that rancour against the English, which 
some Englishn)an seem so anxious to discover.* In- f^ittk^-^ 
dividually I met with all civility from all parties; I „jLt. v 
observe, indeed, among some of the shop-keepers of ^ 
New York, an indifference towards their customers, 
more resembling the listlessness of the Port-uguese, 
•than the polite alacrity of a London tradesman ; but I 
have no reason to think we came in for a greater share 
of it from being Englishmen : the want of competition 
produces the same effect, both on the tradesman and 
inn-keeper, to whom it gives an air of independence, 
very commonly attributed to much profounder causes. 

* It is a curious circumstance that, while we accuse them of 
favouring the French, French writers invariably attack them 
for their rooted, and, as they deem it, blind partiality to the 
English. Vide Volney, Beaujour, &c. 



«-i4» 



38 CHARACTER OF THE AMERICANS. 



The inn-keepers of America, are, in most villa- 
ges, what we vulgarly call, " topping men," field 
officers of militia, with good farms attached to their 
taverns, so that they are apt to think, what, perhaps 
in a newly settled country, is not very wide of the 
truth, that travellers rather receive, than confer a 
favour by being accommodated at their houses. They 
always gave us plentiful fare, particularly at break- 
fasti where veal-cutlets, sweetmeats, cheese, eggs, 
and ham, were most liberally set before us. Dinner 
is little more than a repetition of breakfast, with 
spirits instead of coffee. I never heard wine called 
for ; the common drink is a small cyder ; rum, 
whiskey, and brandy, are placed on the table, and 
the use of them left to the discretion of the compa- 
ny, who seem rarely to abuse their privilege. Tea is 
a meal of the same solid construction with breakfast, 
answering also for supper. The daughters of the 
host officiate at tea and breakfast, and generally 
wait at dinner. Their behaviour is reserved in the 
extreme, but it enables them to serve as domes- 
ticksj without losing their rank of equality with those 
on whom they attend. To judge from the books I 
frequently found lying about, they are well educat- 
ed ; the landlord of an inn at Waterford was very 
particular in inquiring of a gentleman who was with 
me, for the most accomplished schoolmistress of 
New York, with whom to place his daughter ; the 
same man, after shrewdly commenting on the con- 
duct of some of the first political characters of the 
country, summed up his eulogium on his favourite, 
by saying, " I make no objection to his lying and 
intrigoes, for all politicians will do the same." I 
cannot pretend to say how far this is practically 
true in America, but 1 have reason to think the sen- 
timent at least too general. The spirit of specula- 
tion, in all professions of life, seems to go far to- 
wards weakening the finer feelings of political ho- 
nour and integrity. The indolent habits of the 



1 



CHARACTER OF THE AMERICANS. 39 

Spaniard are thought to be favourable to the fidelity 
and honour observable in all his transacJions ; the 
commercial activity of the Chinese degenerates into 
knavish trickery. It is for the Americans to con- 
sider, to which extreme they are verging, and to re- 
member above all, that the vital spirit of republi- 
canism is virtue — but this is going deeper than I 
have any pretension to do at present ; 1 have seen 
but a litlle portion of the mere surface. 

An English traveller is frequently surprised to 
find the highest magistrates and officers of (he na- 
tion travelling by the same conveyances, silling 
down at the same table, and joining in conversation 
with the meanest of the people ; borrowing from his 
own prejudices of rank, he is apt to fancy all the 
great world amusing themselves in masquerade. I 
entered, casually, into conversation, on board the 
steam-boat, with a man whose appearance seemed to 
denote something betwixt the shop-keeper and farm- 
er, though bis conversation marked him superior to 
both. He was the high sheriff of a county. I re- 
member, among other observations, his remarks on 
the unhappy condition of the greater part of emi- 
grants into America, particularly the poorer Irish, 
who are induced by flattering representations to 
strain every eflTort to procure a passage to New 
York, or some sea-port town, where they are left in 
total ignorance, both of the country most fit to set- 
tle in, and of the means of getting to it, until their 
little stock is either wasted by delay, or plundered 
by sharpers, and themselves reduced to beggary, or 
the lowest drudgery of society.* It is very rare to 
find a native American begging, or indeed to find any 
condition resembling beggary throughout the Stales, 
except in the sea-port towns, in which these neglect- 
ed wanderers are collected. 

* I have heard Americans complain, that ahnost all their 
crimes and misdemeanours are committed by persons of this 
description. 



io 



CHARACTER OF THE AMERICANS. 



To enlightened industry, this virgin continent of- 
fers undiminishetl resources ; nor where success is 
in prospect will the American turn his foot aside, 
however rugged the path to it; with his axe on his 
shoulder, his family and stock in a light waggon, he 
plunges into forests, which have never heard the 
woodman's stroke, clears a space sufficient for his 
dwelling, and first year's consumption, and gradually 
converts the lonely wilderness into afliourishmg farm. 
This almost national genius has been ably delineated 
by Talleyrand, Volney, and other writers, whose 
observations all concur on this point of the Ameri- 
can character. A humorous, but faithful account of 
the American vis migratoria, is given by Knicker- 
bocker, 1. c. vii. " The most prominent of these 
habits is a certain rambling propensity, with which, 
like the sons of Ishmael, they seem to have been 
gifted by heaven, and which continually goads them 
on, to shift their residence from place to place, 
so that a Yankee farmer is in a constant state of 
migration ; tarrying occasionally here and there, 
clearing lands for other people to enjoy, building 
houses for others to inhabit, and in a manner, may 
be considered the wandering Arab of America. His 
first thought on coming to the years of manhood, is 
to settle himself in the world, which means nothing 
more or less, than to begin his rambles ; to this 
end, he takes unto himself for a wife, some dashing 
country heiress, that is to say, a buxom rosy- 
cheeked wench, passing rich in red ribbands, glass 
beads, and mock tortoise-shell combs, with a white 
gown and Morocco shoes, for Sunday, and deeply 
skilled in the mystery of making apple sweetmeats, 
long-sauce, and pumpkin pie. Having thus pro- 
vided himself, like a true pedlar, with a heavy 
knapsack, wherewith to regale his shoulders through 
the journey of life, he literally sets out on the pere- 
grination. His whole family, household furniture 
and farming utensils are hoisted into a covered cart : 



CHARACTER OF THE AMERICANS. 41 

his own and his wife's wardrobe packed up in a 
firkin ; which done, he shoulders his axe, fakes 
staff in hand, whistles ' Yankee doodle,' and trudges 
off to the woods, as confident of the protection of 
Providence, and reljifig as cheerfully upon his own 
resources, as did ever a patriarch of yore, when he 
journeyed into a strange country of the Gentiles. 
Having buried hiin&elf in the wildeiness, he builds 
himself a log-hut, clears away a corn-fieUl and pota- 
toe patch; and Providence smiling upon his laboiiis, 
is soon surrounded by a snug farm, and some hult-a- 
score of tlaxen headed urchins, who by their size, 
seem to have sprung all at once out of the earth, 
like a crop of toad-stools." 

The pale of civilized life widens daily, and plain- 
ly itili.nates to the indignant and retiring Indian, 
that it will finally know no limit but the Piuifick. 
Culiivators have begun to discover the superiority 
of the soil, westward of the Alleghany Ridges: the 
tide o*' emigration is accordingly tuined to the neigh- 
bourhood of the Ohio. Sixteen thousand waggons, 
I was told, were counted last year passing the toll 
bridge of Cayuga. Settlements are creeping along 
tlie Missouri, and the month of the Columbia is al- 
ready designated to connect the Asialick with the 
European commerce of the Slates. Such is the 
growth, and such the projects of this Iransallantick 
republick, great in exlen'f of territory, in an active 
and well-inlormed population ; but above all, in a free 
government, which not only leaves indi\idual talent 
unfettered, but calls it into life by all the incite- 
ments of ambition most grateful to the human mindo 



[ 42 3 



CHAPTER IX. 



CANADA. 



March 19th, Isle aux Noix. 

St John's . . 12 miles. 

La Prairie . . 18 

Montreal . . 9 

Albany to Montreal 250 

The direct road is reckoned at 171 
22d. Bertbier, 

Riviere du Loup. 
23d. Trois Rivieres . 90 

St. Anne, 
24tli. Cap Saoie, 

St. Augustine, 
25th. t:iuebec, . . SOsleigbi. 

180 

New York to Albany, 169 

Albany to Montreal, 250 

590 mile?. 

Total expense for three persons, four servants, and one 
waggon load of baggage, including six days' living at New 
York, 755dollars=188i. 15s. 



^ OTHiNG could be more Siberian than the aspect of 
the Canauian frontier : a narrow road, choaked with 
snow, led through a wood, in which, patches were 
occasionally cleared, on either side, to admit the con- 
struction of a few log-huls, round which a brood of 
ragged children, a starved pig, and a few half-broken 
rustick implements, formed an accompaniment more 
suited to an Irish landscape than to the thriving 
scenes we had just quitted. The Canadian peasant 
is still the same unsophisticated animal whom we luaj 



CANADA. ,43 

suppose to have been imported by Jacques Cartier. 
The sharp, unchangeable lineaments of the French 
countenance, feet off with a blue or red night-cap, 
over which is drawn the hood of a grey capote, fash- 
ioned like a monk's cowl, a red worsted girdle, hair 
tied in a greasy leathern queue, brown mocassins of 
undressed hide, and a short pipe in his mouth, give 
undeniable testimony of the presence of Jean Bap- 
tiste. His horse seems to have been equally solici- 
tous to shame neither his progenitors nor his owner, 
by any mixture with a foreign race, but exhibits the 
same relationship to the horses, as his rider to the 
subjects of Louis XIII. Now, too, the frequent 
cross by (he road side, thick-studded with all the im- 
plements of crucifixional torture, begins to inJicate 
a catholick country : distorted virgins and ghastly 
saints decorate each inn room, while the light spires 
of the parish church, covered with plates of tin, glit- 
ter across the snowy plain. 

At La Prairie we crossed the ice to Montreal, 
whose isolated mountain forms a conspicuous object 
at the distance of some leagues. From thence to 
Quebec the road follows the course of the St. Law- 
rence, whose banks present a succession of villages, 
many of them delightfully situated ; but all form and 
feature were absorbed in the snowy deluge, which 
now deepened every league ; add to which, the sleigh 
track, by frequently running on the bed of the river, 
placed us below prospect of every kind. We found 
the inns neat, and the people attentive ; French poli- 
tesse began to be contrasted with American blunt- 
ness. It is curious to observe that this characteris- 
tick pf the Afiiericans, which so frequently offends 
the polished feeliiigs of English travellers, is exa<'tly 
what was formerly objected by the French to our- 
selves. The *' rudesse" of the English character 
was long a standing jest with our refined neighbours; 
but we have now, it seems, so far shaken off this odi- 
ous remnant of uncourtly habits, as to regard if with 
true French horrour in our transatlantick cousins. 



44 CANADA. 

It was Sunday when we arrived at St. Anne's ; 
mas< was jiisl finished, and above an iiundred sleighs 
were rapidly dispersing themselves np the neighbour- 
ing heights, and across the bed of the river, to the 
adjiioenl villages'. The common country sleigh is a 
cininsy, box-shaped machine, raised at both ends ; 
perhaps not greatly unlike the old heroick car. It 
holds two persons, with the driver, who stands before 
them. One horse is commonly sufficient, but two 
are used in posting, when the leader is attached by 
cords, tandeoj-wise, and left to use his own discretion, 
without the restraint of rein, or impulse of whip. 
Should, however, the latter stimulus become indispen- 
sable, the driver jumps from the sleigh, runs forward, 
applies his pack-thread lash, and regains his seat 
wiihout any hazaVd from extraordinary increase of im- 
petus. The runners of these sleighs are forgied of 
two slips of wood, so low that the shafts collect the 
snow into a succession of wavy hillocks, properly 
christened " cahots," for they almost dislocate your 
limbs five thousand times in a day's journey. An at- 
tempt was once made to correct this evil, bj' prohi- 
biting all low runners, as they are called, from com- 
ing within a certain distance of Quebec ; meaning, 
thereby, to force the country people into the use of 
high runners, in the American fashion. Jean Bapliste, 
however, sturdily and effectually resisted this he- 
retical innovation, by hailing with his produce with- 
out the limits, and thus compelling the towns-people 
to come to him (o make their purchases. The mar- 
kets both of Montreal and Quebec exhibit several 
hundred market sleighs daily. They differ from the 
pleasure, or travelling sleigh, in having no sides^; that 
is, Ihev consist merely of a plank bottom, with a kind 
of railing. Hay and wood seem the staple commo- 
dilies at this season, holh of which are immoderately 
dear, especially at Quebec ; even through the States, 
the coiiiiuon charge for one horse's hay for a night, 
was a dollar. Provisions are brought to market fro- 



1 



CANADA. 45 

zen, in tfIiicIi stale they are preserved during winter; 
coti fish is brought from Boston, a land carriage of 
500 miles, and then sells at a reasonable rate, the 
American con)monly speculating on a caigo of smug- 
gled goods back, to make up his profit ; a kind of 
trade extremely brisk beiwixt the frontier and Mon- 
treal. 

As we approached Quebec, snow lay to the depth 
of six feet ; from the heights of Abram, the eye rest- 
ed UjUJU what seemed an immense lake of milk ; all 
smaller irregularities of ground, fences, boundaries, 
and copse woods, had disappeared ; the tops of vil- 
lages ayd scattered fartu houses, with here and there 
dark lines ol pine-wood, and occasionally the mast of 
some ice-locked schootier, marking the bed of the 
Charles river, were the only objects peering above 
it. A range of mountains, sweeping round from 
West to North, until it meets the St. Lawrence, 
boun<ls the hoi izon ; no herald of S})ring had yet 
approached this dreary outpost of civilization ; we 
had observed a few blue thrushes in the neighbour- 
hood of Alba/jy, but none had yet reached Canada ; 
two only of the feathered tribe brave the winter of 
this inclement region ; the cosmopolite crow, and the 
snow bird,* a soiail white bird, reported to feed upon 
snow, because it is not very clear what else it can 
find. 

It would be acting unfairly to Quebec, to describe 
it as I found it on my arrival, choaked with ice and 
snow, which one day flooded the streets with a profu- 
sion of dirty kennels, and the next, cased them with 
a sheet of glass. Cloth or carpet boots ; galashes, 
with sj>ikes to their heels, iron pointed walking-sticks, 
are the defensive weapons perpetually in employ on 
these occasions. The direction of the streets too, 
which are most of them built up a precipice, s^really 
facilitates any inclination one may entertain for tum- 
bling, or neck-breaking. 

* Emberiza byemalis. 



[ 46 3 



CHAPTER X. 



THE FALLS OF MONTMORENCI. 

The falls of Montmorenci are formed bj a little 
river of that name, near its jiinclion with the St. 
Lawrence, about five miles north of Quebec. They 
have a peculiar interest in winter, from the immense 
cone of ice, formed at their foot, which was unim- 
paired when I visited them, in the second week of 
April. After winding up a short but steep ascent, 
the road crosses a wooden bridge, beneath which the 
Montmorenci rushes betwixt its dark grey rocks, and 
precipitates itself in a broken torrent down a wooded 
glen on the right ; it is not until you have wound 
round the edge of this glen, which is done by quit- 
ting the road at the bridge-foot, (hat you obtain a 
view of the falls ; nor was their effect lessened by 
this approach ; a partial thaw, succeeded by a frost, 
had spread a silvery brightness over the waste of 
snow. Every twig and branch of the surrounding 
pine-trees, every waving shrub and briar was encased 
in chrystal, and glittering to the sun beams, like the 
diamond forest of some northern elf-land. You are 
now on the edge of a precipice, to which the tail it- 
self, a perpendicular of 220 feet, seems diminutive ; 
it is not until you descend and approach its foot, 
that the whole jriajesty of the scene becomes appa- 
rent ; the breadth of the torrent is about fifty teet. 
The waters, from their prodigious descent, seem 
snowy-white with foam, and enveloped in a li^ht dra- 
pery of gauzy mist. The cone appears about 100 
feet in height ; mathematically regular in shape, with 



THE FALLS OP MONTMORENCI. 47 

its base extending nearly all across (he stream : its 
sides are not so steep bdt that ladies have ascended 
to the top of it ; the interiour is hollow. I regret to 
add, that a mill is constructing on Jhis river, which 
will, by diverting the stream, destroy fhis imperial 
sport of nature ; or at least reduce it (o the degrada- 
tion of siibmitling (o be played off at the miller's dis- 
cretion, like a Versailles fountain. 



[ 48 ] 



CHAPTER XI. 



aUEBEC AND ITS NEIGHBOURHOOD. 



Towards the end of April, flie town's people begin, 
accoi'iling lo a law of the Piovince, lo break up the 
ice and snow from before their doors ; and by the first 
week in May, the streets are tolerably cleared. The 
inlertnediate stale, as may be supposed, is a perfect 
chaos, through which the slu(nbling pedestrian, like 
the arch-fiend of old, 

♦' pursues his way, 
"And swims, or sinks, or wades, or creeps." 

Meanwhile the landscape begins to exchange its 
snowy mantle for a russet brown. A few wild fowl 
and woodcocks, with, some small birds, cautiously 
make their appearance ; the sheltered bottoms of the 
pine woods throw out the earliest flowers ; the St. 
Lawrence and Charles rivers become giadually dis- 
burlhened of ice, and enlivened by the gliding sail ; 
still, however, the foot of Spring seems lingering ; 
the mists, exhaled by the warmth of the sun, frequent- 
ly encounter (he keen north-west, and are again pre- 
cipitated in heavy snow-showers ; snow still blocks 
up the roads, and fills the dells and ditches, sheltered 
from the influence of the sun ; thus preserving the 
gloomy aspect of winter, through the month of May. 
The town, or ratlier city, of Q,uebec, is built on 
the northern extremity of a narrow strip of high land, 
which follows the course of the St. Lawrence for se- 
veral 'niles, to its confluence with the Charles. The 
basis of this height is a dark slate-rock, of which most 



QUEBEC AND ITS NEIGHBOURHOOD. 49 

of the buildings in the town are constructed. Cape 
Diamond terminates the promotilorj, wiUi a bold pre- 
cipice towards the S(. Lawrence, to which, it is near- 
ly perpendicula*, at the height of 320 feet. It de- 
rives its name from the chrvslals of quartz found in 
it, which are so abundant, that after a shower the 
ground glitters with tliein. The lower town is built 
round the foot of these heights, without the fortifica- 
tions, which, with the upper town, occupy their 
crest, in bleak pre-eminence ; the former, snug and 
dirty, is the abode of thriving commerce, and of most 
of the lower classes employed about the navy. The 
latterj coM and-lofty, is the seat of Government, and 
principal residence of the military ; and claims, in 
consequence, that kind of superiority which some 
heads have been said to assert over the inglorious 
belly : to speak the truth, neither has much to boast 
on the score, either of beauty, or convenience. 

A.raong the principal buildings, the Government 
house, or Castle of St. Louis, may take precedence, 
being a thin blue building, which seems quivering, 
like a theatrical side scene, on the verge of the pre- 
cipice, towards the St. Lawrence : its front rese/nbles 
that of a respectable gentleman's house in England: 
the interior contains comfortable family apartments. 
For occasions of publick festivity there is another 
building on the opposite side of the court-yard, much 
resemblino- a decayed gaol. The furniture is inherit- 
ed, and paid for, by each successive governour. 
The grand entrance to the Chateau is flanked on one 
side by this grim mouldering pile, and on the other 
by the stables, with their appropriate dung-hills. 
There is a small garden on the bank of the river, 
commanding, as does the Chateau itself, an interesting 
view of the opposite shores of the St. Lawrence. 
These rise boldly precipitous, clothed with pine and 
cedar groves, and studded with white villages, and 
detached farms ; beyond which the eye reposes on 
successive chains of wooded mountains, fading blue 
7 



^0 QUEBEC AND ITS NEIGHBOURHOOD. 

in the distant horizon ; raeanwhile, the river below is 
spreading broadly towards the north, until it meets 
and divides ronnd the Isle of Orleans. 

In front of the Chateau is an open space of ground, 
with great capabilities of being converted into a 
handsome square ; but at this season, a formidable 
barrier of bog-land, iniersected with rivulets of sxiow- 
wafer, is all that it presents to the bewildered pedes- 
trian, who endeavours vainly to steer for the castle 
gate. On one side of it stands the Protestant cathe- 
dral church, an unfinished building, much more than 
large enough for the congregation usually assembled 
in it. In style and arrangement it resembles a Lon- 
don parochial church, and has nothing about it re- 
proachable with earthly beauty. There is a good 
organ, but mute for want of an organist ; and as there 
is no choir, the heavy flatness of the service amply 
secures the English church from all danger of being 
crowded with the overflowings of its neighbour, the 
Catholick cathedral, in which are still displayed, with 
no inconsiderable degree of splendour, the enticing 
ceremonies of the Romish worship. 1 was present at 
the service on Easter Sunday : a train of not less 
than fifty stoled priests and choristers surrounded the 
tapered altar : the bishop officiated in plenis ponlifi.- 
calibus, nor lacked the mitre "precious and auro- 
phrygiate," while the pealing organ, incense rolling 
from silver censers, and kneeling crowds, thronging 
the triple aisles, presented a spectacle, on which few 
are rigid enough, either in belief or unbelief, to look 
with absolute indifference. A lofty pile of ginger- 
bread cakes, ornamented with tinsel, was carried to 
the bishop to receive his blessing, and a sprinkling of 
holy water, after which they were distributed among 
the people, who received them with most devout ea- 
gerness. These cakes I understood to be the pious 
offering of some devotee, more rich than wise, who 
qertaiuly adopted a somewhat ludicrous expedient 



QUEBEC AND ITS NEIGHBOURHOOD. 51 

*' To bribe the rage of ill-requited Heaven," 

with gingerbread. 

In Cctholick countries there are few publick build- 
ings, either for use or ornament, but are in some way 
connected with religion, and most frequently with 
charity. There are several charitable Catholick in- 
stiliifions in Q,iie!)ec : the principal of these is the 
" Hotel Dieu," founded in 1637, by the Duchess 
D'Aiguilion, (sister to Cardinal Richelieu,) for the 
poor sick. The establishment consists of a superioui* 
and thirty-six nuns. The " General Hospital" is a 
sifnilar institution, consisting of a superiour and forty- 
three nuns, founded by Si. Vallier, bishop of Que- 
bec, in 1693, for " Poor Sick and Mendicants." It 
stands about a mile from the town, in a pleasant mea- 
dow watered by the Charles. The style of building 
is simple, arjd well suited to the purposes of the es- 
tablishment, consistinsi: only of " such plain roofs as 
piety could raise." The present superiour is a lady 
of Irish extraction, her age apparently bordering 9n 
thirty. In this conventual seclusion, (devoted to 
what might well seem to the mind of a delicate fe- 
malej the most disgusting duties of humanity,) she 
exhibits that easy elegance, and softened cheerfulness 
of manner, so often aflfected, and rarely attained by 
the many votaries, who dress Iheir looks and carriage 
in *' the glass of fashion." She conducted us, with 
the greatest politeness, through every part of the 
building, which, as well as the " Hotel Dieu," in 
point of o:i!(^r, neatness, and arrangement, seems sin- 
gularly adapted to the conifort and recovery of the 
unfortunate beings, to whose reception they are con- 
secrated. Their funds I understood to be small, and 
nianaged with strict economy. They receive a small 
sum annually from Government* in addition to the 
revenue arising from their domain-lands. There is 

* In consideration of which, soldiers are received as patients. 



52 QUEBEC AND ITS NEIGHBOURHOOD. 

no distinction in the admission of Catholick or Pro- 
testant : the hand of charily has spread a couch for 
each in his infirmities. Both houses have a small 
pharmacopcEia in charge of a sister instructed in me- 
dicine. The several duties of tending the sick by 
night, cooking, &c. are distributed by rotation. Em- 
ployment is thus equally secured to all, and the first 
evil of cankering thought effectually prevented. Good 
humour and contented cheerfulness seem to be no 
strangers to these " veiled votaries ; seem ! nay, 
perhaps are ; for without ascribing any miraculous ef- 
fect to the devotion of a cloister, it is no unreasona- 
ble supposition, that in an establishment of this kind, 
the duties and occupations of which prevent seclu- 
sion from stagnating into apathy, or thought from 
fretting itself into peevishness, a greater degree of 
tranquillity, (and this is happiness,) may possibly be 
obtained, than commonly falls to the lot of those who 
drudge through the ordinary callings, or weary them- 
selves with the common enjoyments of society. Grave 
men have doubted whether the purposes of these in- 
stitutions might not be better answered by our com- 
mon hospital establishments, and have even indulged 
themselves in a sneer, at the idea of young men being 
attended in sickness by nuns ! On the question ge- 
nerally, it may be observed, that few (who have any 
knowledge of the system of common hospitals) can be 
at a loss to appreciate the difference betwixt the ten- 
der solicitude with which charily smooths, for con- 
science sake, the bed of suffering, and the heartless, 
grudging attendance which hospital nurses inflict upon 
their victims. If the action of the mind produce a 
sensible effect on the fiarae, particularly in sickness, 
this is no iinmaterial circumstance, in a medical point 
of view. Even when the hour of human aid is past, 
it is, perhaps, still soiiiething, that the last earthly ob- 
ject should be a face of sympathy, and the last duties 
of humanity be paid with a semblance of affection. 
For those who dedicate themselves to this ministry. 



(QUEBEC AMD ITS NEIGHBOURHOOD. 53 

some apology may be urged lo such as admit motive 
as, at least an exteniiatiiig circumstance in the consi- 
deration of errour. The moral criticics, perhaps, 
who are foremost to condemn their praciice as super- 
stitious, revolt less from the supposition, than from 
the self-sacrifice it requires. Lei the lash of satire 
fall mercilesly on mere bigots, wherever they are 
found ; but against the spirit, which, abjuring the 
pleasures, devotes itself to the most painful duties of 
life, what argument can be directed, which may not 
be left for its refutation to the prayers and blessings 
of the poor? The most objectionable part of the in- 
stitution seems to be the committing of insane per- 
sons, of both sexes, to the charge of females : the an- 
swer is, that there is no other asylum for them ; the 
blame therefore attaches to tiie police of the coun- 
try ; for it is evident, that women are very inadequate 
to the charge of such patients as require coercive 
treatment, particularly men.* 

The Ursuline Convent, founded by Madame de 
la Peltrie, in 1639, for the education of female chil- 
dren, stands within the city. It has, both in its inte- 
rior decoration, and the dress of its inhabitants, a 
greater appearance of wealth than the " General 
Hospital," and " Hotel Dieu." Among the orna- 
ments of the chapel, we were particularly directed to 
the skull and bones of a missionary who had been 
murdered by the savages, for attempting their con- 
version : it is perhaps doubtful, consideiing the gene- 
ral indifference of the Indians on matters of religious 
controversy, whether this was the real and sole of- 
fc.icc by which he won the crown of martyrdom. 
These nuns have generally about '200 little girls un- 
der their care, but I was sorry to observe their edu- 
cation bought with their health ; not one of them but 
had a pallid sickly appearance, arising probably from 

* We saw one patient, who would never suffer himself to be 
cloathed. 



54 QUEBEC AND ITS NEIGHBOURHOOD. 

much confinetnent, during a long winter, in an atmos- 
piiere highly heated with stoves, joined to the salf, 
un.vholesoine diet, generally used by the Canadians. 
I oi^ht not to onil, for the honour ot' these ladies' 
charity, that they keep a town bull. 

The seminary is a collegiate institution, for the 
gratuitous instruction of the Catholic youth of Can- 
ada. The niiniber of scholars is commonly about 200. 
The e\i>ense3 of professors, teaching, &c. are de- 
frayed by the revenue arising fiom the Seignioral do- 
mains, belonging to the establishment. The course 
of -studies here qualifies for ordination. There is a 
smdl museum, or "cabinet de physique," which 
seems in a growing condition; it contams, besides 
natural curiosities, electrical apparatus, telescopes 
and other instrutnents of science. The library is 
so newhat too theological ; there is a small hell at- 
tached to it, in which I perceived our common Pray- 
er Books, Testaments, &c. in company with many 
divines, as well Catholic as Protestant, Bayle, and a 
few travellers and philosophers, but the greater part 
theologians. The old palace, besides the chambers 
for the council, and House of Assembly, contains a 
good pubiir.k library ; the nature of the collection, may 
be defined generally, as the reverse of that of the 
seminary library. There is a good assortment of his- 
torical works, of a standard quality, and of travels; 
but no classicks, probably because none of the inhabi- 
tants affect to read them. A library is also on thb 
eve of being established, by the officers of the staff 
and garrison ; but the society of Quebec is generally 
on too limited a scale, and too exclusively military 
or commercial, to foster any considerable spirit of 
literature or science. An attempt was made during 
Sir G. Prevost's administration, to establish a society 
on the plan of the Royal Institution, but it fell to the 
ground, for want of a sulBciency ofeffii'ient members, 
eleven being the supposed necessary quantum to be- 
gin with ; nor is this seemiog scarcity surprising, 



QUEBEC AND ITS NEIGHBOURHOOD. 55 

when we consider, that the short Canadian snmmer 
is appropriated to business, and (hat during the te- 
dious ffinlei, (he men are never tired of dinners, nor 
the ladies of dancing. 

Tiiere are some pecnliat- and interesting features in 
the neighbourhood of Quebec. The lofiy banks of I he 
St. Lawrence, from Cape Diamond to Cape RoiJ£ie,are 
composed of claj-slate, generail}' of a dark colour, 
somolimes of a dull red, wh:;nce the name of " Csp 
Rouge." The bed of the river is of the same crum- 
bling stone ; and being triturated by time and the 
elements, gives its sands a close resemblance, both 
in colour and consistency, to smith's filings. Bare 
however, as they are of soil, these perpendicidar 
clitFs are every where cloathed with a luxuriant ver- 
dure of shrubs and trees, whose roots, wreathing 
themselves round barren rocks, seem to woo from 
the charity of the heavens, the nutriment denied 
them by a niggard parent. 

About two miles above Quebec, a break in the 
magnificent line of cliffs forms the little recess, called 
Wolfe's Cove ; a steep path-way leads up the heights 
to the plains of Abram ; traces of fielii-works are 
still visible on the turf, and the stone is pointed out 
on which the hero expired. The cove is at present 
appropriated to the reception of lumber, which comes 
down the river from the States and Upper Province, 
in rafts, which frequently cover the surface of half 
an acre ; when the wind is favourable, they spread 
10 or 12 square sails, at other times they are poled 
down ; the men, who navigate them, build small 
wooden houses on them, and thus, transported with 
their families, poultry, and frequently cat lie, from a 
complete floating village. A great proportion of the 
timber is brought from lake Champlain, and the trade 
is almost wholly in the hands of the Americans. 

A second crescent-like recess, about a mile from 
Wolfe's Cove, conceals the little viihge of Sillori. 
Nothing can be more romantic than the seclusion of 
this charming spot. The river road to it turns round 



56 CiUEBEC AND ITS NEIGHBOURHOOD. 

the foot of gigantic clilTs, which seem interposed be- 
twixt it and the world's turmoil. The hei2;hts which 

• • • 

encircle it are deeply \vooded to their summits, and 
retire sufficiently from the river to leave a pleasant 
meadow and hop-ground round the village, consisting 
of about half-a-dozen neat Avhite houses, one of which 
is an inn. On the river's edge stands the ruin of an 
old religious house, built by French missionaries, for 
the purpose of preaching to the Huron tribes, who 
then inhabited this neighbourhood. There is now 
no trace of these mi-isionaries, or of their labours, 
except in the little village of Loretto, which contains 
the onlj' surviving reiicks of the once powerful Huron 
nation*^ : so efficaciously have disease and gunpow- 
der seconded the converting zeal of Europeans. 
Besides the road which winds under the cliffs, Sil- 
lori has two leading to Quebec through the woods. 
These woods cover the greater part of the country, 
betwixt the St. Foi road, and the river, otTering all 
the luxury of shade and sylvan loveliness to the few 
disposed to accept it. I say, the few, for the fash- 
ionables of Quebec commonly prefer making a kind 
of Rotten Row of the Plains of Abram, round which 
they parade with the periodical uniformity of blind 
horses in a mill. 

Lake Charles is generally talked of as one of the 
pleasantest spots round Quebec, and instances have 
been known of parties of pleasure reaching it. It is 
about three miles in length ; and perhaps one at its 
greatest breadth. Towards the middle of it, two 
rocky points shoot out so as to form, properly speak- 
ing, two lakes, connected by a narrow channel. A 
scattered hamlet, taking its name from the lake, is 
seen with its meadows and tufted orchards along the 
right bank of the outward basin. Wooded heights 
rise on the opposite shore, and surround the whole 
of the interior lake, descending every where to the 
water's edge, the whole forming a scene of lovely 
loneliness, scarcely intruded on by the canoe of the 

* About forty heads of families. 



HCEBEC AXD ITS NEIGHBOURHOOD. 57 

silent angler. There is more in (he whole landscape 
to feel, Ihan (o talk about, so that it is little wonder- 
ful that an excursion to Lake Charles should be more 
frequently talked about, than made. 

The Huron village of Loretto stands on the left 
bank of the Charles about four miles below the Lake, 
(eight from Quebec.) The river, immediately on 
passing the bridge, below the village, rushes down 
its broken bed of granite, with a descent of about 
seventy feet, and buries itself in the windings of the 
deeply-shadowed glen below. A part of the fall is 
diverted to turn a tuill, which seems fearfully suspen- 
ded above the foaming torrent. The village covers 
a plot of ground very much in the manner of an En- 
glish barrack, and altogether the reverse of the strag- 
gling Canadian method ; it is, in fact, the method 
of their ancestors. I found the children amusing 
themselves with little bows and arrows. The houses 
had generally an air of poverty and slovenliness : 
that, however, of their principal chief, whom I visit- 
ed, was neat and comfortable. One of their old men 
gave me a long account of the manner in which the 
Jesuits had contrived to trick them out of their seig- 
nioral rights, and possession of the grant of land made 
them by the king of France, which consisted, origin- 
ally, of four leagues, by one in breadth, from Sillori, 
north. Two leagues of this, which were taken from 
them by the French government, upon promise of 
an (equivalent, they give up, he said, as lost ; but as 
the property of the Jesuits is at present in the hands 
of commissioners appointed by our Government, 
they were in hopes of recovering the remainder, 
which it never could be proved that their ancestors 
either gave, sold, lent, or in any way alienated. 
Allhough the oldest among them retains no remem- 
brance of the wandering life of their ancestors, it is 
still the life they covet; "for," said a young Huron, 
" on s'emmie dans le village, et on ne s^enmde 
jamais dans les bois." 
8 



[ 58 ] 



CHAPTER Xll. 



QUEBEC TO KAMOURASKA. 



July 16th. St. Thomas . 36 Miles. 

17th Riviere Ouelle . 42 

18tb. Kainour^ska . 12 

90 Miles 



TO QUEBEC BY THE NORTH SHORE. 

2lst. Malbay . .20 Ferry. 

22d. St. Paul's Bay 30 

24th. La Petite Riviere . . 12 "Water. 

25th. St. Joahim ... 18 do. 

Quebec ... 30 

110 

90 

200 



Opposite to Quebec is Point Levi, a command- 
ing eminence on the right bank of St. Lawrence, 
whose breadth here is little above a mile. A party 
of Michmac Indians were encamped on the shore. 
They were the first Indians I had seen, in any 
thing like their original condition of life, and are al- 
most the only ones to be seen about Quebec. Their 
encampment consisted of four tents, raised with pine 
poles, and covered with the bark of the white birch, 
which is used generally for this purpose, and for 
canoes, by all the tribes of the continent. Two 
women were gumming their canoe at the water's 
edge ; three or four little half-naked " bronzed varl- 



QUEBEC TO KAMOURASKA. 59 

ets" were dabbling in Ihe fide, who, on my coming 
lip, began to articulate " how d'je do," in Michmac 
English. A man in one of the fenls was making 
small canoes for children's toys, and (he rest were in 
that state of indolence, most accordant to their dis- 
positions, when their circumstances will permit it. 
In dress and personal appearance they were too like 
gypsies to require more particular description, ex- 
cept that their cheek-bones, high, and set wide apart, 
rendered them the ugliest looking mortals 1 had 
ever seen. The Michmacs originally dwelt and 
hunted betwixt the shores of Nova Scotia and the 
St. Lawrence. Like all Indians enclosed within 
the pale of civilization, they are wasting fast from 
the effects of spirituous liquors, bad living, and in- 
dolent habits; deprived of the resource of the chase 
by the progress of agriculture, they wander on the 
shores of the St. Lawrence, fish, beg, or steal, and 
live as they can, that is, ill enough. 

St. Michel is reinarkable for the neatest inn in (he 
country; I dined there, and slept at the house of 
Mr. Couillard, a Canadian gentleman. His house, 
which he had lately erected, was a substantial stone 
buildirig, furnished in the plainest manner, much per- 
haps, as were those of our country gentlemen a 
century ago ; that is, much wainscot, no papering, 
little or no mahogany, plain delf ware, a rustic estab- 
lishment, with two or three little girls to wait, in- 
stead of a footman, and as many large dogs for por- 
ters. In the morning, Mr. Couillard accompanied 
me to the mouth of the South River, which falls 
over a ledge of rocks into the St. Lawrence, below 
his house, where the early fisherman was just visiting 
his nets, stretched below the fall. We returned 
through the village, which is one of the neatest in 
the province ; the houses are placed in the Dutch 
fashion, with the gable end to the road. The num- 
ber of inhabitants in the whole parish is reckoned at 
1500, who have among them 1000 children ; a good 



60 QUEBEC TO KAMOUUASKA. 

proof, as Mr. Qouillard seemed justly fo think, of 
their populafive disposition. On entering the church, 
we found the priest drilling a considerable number 
of them, previous to their receiving the sacrament, 
and bestowing a box on the ear, whenever it seemed 
necessary, to accustom the head to its proper posi- 
tion. There is an English school in the village.* 

The tract of country betwixt Quebec and St. 
Thomas, is generally a flat, of variable breadth, lying 
betwixt the river and a chain of mountains or high 
lands, which follows the same direction, sometimes 
approaching nearer to, and sometimes retiring from 
its banks. In the neighbourhood of St. Thomas, the 
breadth of cultivated land seldom seems to exceed 
two leagues ; beyond is hill and forest, into which 
no Canadian has yet ventured to penetrate for the 
purpose of settlement. Indeed, the most prominent 
trait in the character of this people, is an attachment 
to whatever is established. Far different in this 
respect from the American, the Canadian will sub- 
mit to any privation, r^ather than quit the spot his 
forefathers tilled, or remove from the sound of his 
parish bells. 

The next evening brought me to the village of 
Ouelle, situated on the right bank of a river so call- 
ed. I had a letter to the Seigneur, Mr. Casgrin, 
whom I found near the ferry, busied among his 
workmen, in the superintendance of a new bridge, 
to supply the place of the ferry. He received me 
very politely, and having conducted me to a neat 
bouse, facing the stream, invited me to his family 
supper, which in Canada, as well as in the States, 
is formed by a combination of the tea equipage, with 
the constituent parts of a more substantial meal. 
He introduced me to his architect, whose appearance 
\<rell answered Mr. Casgrin's description of "j-Msft- 

* By an Act 41 Geo. 3. aa English school is established in 
each of the principal villages of the Lower Province. 



QUEBEC TO KAMOURASKA. 61 

CHS, abnormis, sapiens.^' The whole of his work- 
men, 45 in number, were, according lo the custom 
of the country, boarded and lodged in liis house ; 
and I must do them the justice to saj, 45 quieter 
people never lodged beneath a roof. Early hours 
being the order of the day, we retired to rest at 
nine o'clock ; after an early breakfast, a relation of 
my host took me in his caleche, lo visit a porpoise 
fishing in the neighbourhood ; the drive was about 
four miles, the last two of them through a pine 
wood, preserved round the fishery, that the noise of 
agricultural occupations may not frighten the game 
from the shore. The fishery lies betwixt the mouth 
of the Quelle, and a ridge of rocks jutting into the 
St. Lawrence, about a mile below it — from the ex- 
tremity of this ridge, an enclosure of stakes runs a 
considerable way obliquely across the stream, and 
by crossing the retreat of the porpoises, as the tide 
falls, conducts them into shallow water, where they 
are harpooned ; I saw one on the beach, which had 
been taken that morning ; he was a small one, mea- 
suring but 10 feet in length, much more like a fat 
white hog, than a fish ; the aperture of the ear is 
covered by the skin, and by no means indicates the 
acuteness of hearing ascribed to this animal by the 
fishermen ; the largest are 18 feet in length, and are 
computed to yield two hogsheads of oil each, the 
quality of which makes it in high request among the 
natives, even for culinary purposes. I was told, 
that as many as 300 were sometimes taken in a 
morning ; the Seigneur is entitled to ygth, and Mr. 
Casgrin received Jj^lh, besides, as part owner. On 
the ledge of rocks was placed a small wooden cross, 
on which, every spring, the Cure is summoned to 
bestow his benediction, without which, no success is 
to be expected through the season. As the fishery 
is at present rather on the decline, it is probable the 
porpoises have hit upon some counter-charm. The 
inhabitants point out as a great curiosity, a succes- 



62 QUEBEC TO KAMOURASKA. 

sion of marks or fractures on these rocks, which, 
frorn their shape, they call the Rackets, or Snow 
Shoes, to which, they ^certainly bear considerable 
resemblance, both in shape, size, and position, being 
placed much at the distance a man would step. My 
host, probably no great geologist, conjectured they 
were really the impression of shoes, made while the 
rock was soft ; and this explanation perfectly satis- 
fies the whole neighbourhood. Perhaps many im- 
portant systems are built on analogies, not much 
closer. 

For some miles before reaching Kamouraska, a 
striking difference becomes visible in the appearance 
of the country. The basis of the soil had hitherto 
consisted of the same clay-slate, generally red, which 
constitutes the bed and banks of (he St. Lawrence 
about Quebec, interspersed with frequent detached 
blocks and masses of granite, apparently springing 
through it. Here, however, granite begins to quit 
its secondary rank, and gradually seems to become 
the general substratum of the soil :* instead of scat- 
tered masses, lofty ridges and mounds of considera- 
ble size make their appearance. At St. Roch, the 
road runs for nearly a mile beneath a perpendicular 
ledge of it, probably 300 feet in height. Towards 
Kamouraska, it rises info a succession of sharp coni- 
cal hills', resembling a line of lofty pyramids, ranged 
at angles to the course of the river. The most 
singular mass of this kind, I had an opportunity of 
observing closely, is about two miles below Kamour- 
aska; its circumference * is about a league at the 
base ; the height may be betwixt 4 and 500 feet ; 
its sides rise in many places as smoothly perpendicu- 
lar as if cut down by an axe, scarcely yielding a 
fissure, in which the stunted cedar can take root. 
A flat meadow divides this immense rock from an- 

* The valley of the river Quelle produces limestone, but of 
ao ioferiour quality. 



Q,UEBEC TO KAMOURASKA. 63 

other, seemingly of nearly equal dimensions, and 
towering up no less boldly. The small space which 
divides them, (not a quarter of a mile,) and the 
perfect congruity of their shape, irresistibly impress 
on the mind, the idea of their having once formed a 
single mountain. 

Kamouraska is pleasantly situated on the St. 
Lawrence, and is a village of some resort during 
summer, for sea-bathing ; the salt-water first evident- 
ly commencing in this neighbourhood. The parish 
is of some extent, as may be conjectured from the 
value of the cure, estimated at 1000/. per annum; 
that is, when all dues are fully paid, which was not 
the case with the last cuie, recently deceased, who, 
" good easy man," was not only content to receive 
what his parishoners chose to give him, generally 
about one-third of his right, but gave away half of 
the little remainder, living in a crazy tenement, on 
apostolic diet, and amusing himself by walking on 
the beach, to ask and hear the news. Opposite 
Kamouraska is a cluster of small islands, or rather 
wooded rocks, round which there are considerable 
fisheries of salmon, herrings, and sardines; the first 
two of which are cured and exported to the West 
Indies. These fisheries are constructed much like 
the porpoise fishery ; a considerable space of water 
is enclosed with two hedges, tapering to a point, and 
terminating in a small circular basin, from which the 
fish aie taken at low water. I spent the greater part 
ofaday, Oil one of these islands, with a Canadian 
gentleman, to whom some of the fisheries belonged; 
we went round them in a cart, fo take out our fish, 
which we broiled, and dined d la rnilituire, under 
our tent, on the rocks. Their stony soil, besides 
pine and cedar, and a variety of shrubs, produces 
the wild gooseberry, rasberry, cherry, and plum, in 
great abundance. A telegraph is erected on one of 
them, where the soldiers have established a thriving 
potatoe garden. We returned to Kamouraska in the 



64 QUEBEC TO KAMOURASKA. 

evening, cheered on our way with the rude harmonj 
of the Canadian boat-song. 

The ground rises gradually behind Kamouraska 
into a high rocky ridge, from whence the eye dwells 
delighted on the broad St. Lawrence, studded with 
woody isles, and bounded by the bold mountain 
shore of the northern bank. The little river pf 
Kamouraska, descending from the eastern mountains, 
encounters this granite ridge, and falls in a broad 
sheet over a natural wall of about thirty feet in height ; 
a portion of the current is diverted from the summit 
to turn a grist mill, the property of the Seigneur, 
who receives one fourteenth of the quantity ground, 
amounting to one thousand bushels of wheat per an- 
num, in addition to the miller's fee. The miller 
is an old Hanoverian, who served in the American 
war. 

The St. Lawrence ia twenty-two miles broad at 
Kamouraska. I was the whole of a day crossing it, 
in a little boat, to Malbay, or rather to a scattered 
hamlet, four miles to the north of it, the falling tide 
having prevented our doubling the last rocky point. 
From hence I was carted to the ferry of the little 
river at the moulh of which the village stands. I 
inquired, as is the custom in the untravelied parts of 
Canada, for the best house, in which to find hospi- 
tality for the night, and was directed to that of 
Madame Nairn, the lady of the Seignory. I found 
it a plain, and rather large dwelling, standing in a 
meadow, on the edge of the St. Lawrence. The 
lady was from home, but an old domestick assiduous- 
ly welcomed me in : wine was immediately ofTered 
me, and in a few minutes, refreshments were on the 
table ; eggs, tea, and bread and butter, to which a 
long fast inclined me to do ample justice. I after- 
wards walked round the village. Its site is a small 
semicircle of alluvial land lying at the foot of moun- 
tains of a bolder and more romantick character than 
any I had yet seen in Canada. The only aperture 



QUEBEC TO KAMOURASKA. 65 

in the chain affords a passage lo the Malbay river, 
whith cnerges from a darkly-shaded glen, on the 
north west ot ihe vinaa,e. The houses, about forty 
or fitly in jiunibcr, lollow the curve of the soil, or 
banks of (be sireamlet, near the mouth of which a 
neat white cliurch rises, in striking rehef, against 
the dark bohl mountain, lowering about half a mile 
beyond it. Near the St. Lawrence 1 observed a 
number of sharp couital sand hills, or mounds, from 
ten lo forty feet in hei^hl. The extreme regularity 
of then* fij;ure strongly ifupressed me with an idea 
of their aiuficial construction ; upon an English 
down thej would pa^s for barrows ; I even fancied 
I could trace the remains of a foss and raised patli- 
way to sojne of them, like the entrance to a Roman 
camp; but whether they are the graves of forgotten 
S.ic/iems, or the work of the floods of former ages, 
I pretend not lo decide. I found a comfortable 
chamber prepared on my return, and breakfast on 
the table in the morning. " How do you -contrive 
to get through your lime here, my girl ?" said I, 
to the rosy-cheeked damsel who kepi up my supply 
of fresh eggs; " O, Sir, the time goes very quick; 
we have plenty of employment." " Well, but in 
winter ?" O the winter passes still quicker than the 
summer." I regretted I had not an opportunity of 
paying my respects to my kind hostess, in whose 
family lime was allowed lo jog quietly on, without 
any extraordinary contrivances for his destruction, a 
privilege so seldom granted hirri by the present ge- 
neration. There is something of the romance of real 
life in Mrs. Nairn's history. She accompanied her 
husban! from Scotland, during the American war, 
in which lie served, and was rewarded by a grant of 
the Seignory of Malbay, a tract of mountain coun- 
try, little prized by Canadian or English settlers, but 
dearer, perhaps to him, from its likene^ lo his na- 
tive Highlands. When he settled on it there were 
but two houses, besides Ihe one he built. He lived 
9 



66 QUEBEC TO KAM0URA8KA, 

here till his death, and his widow has continued to 
reside here for forty-five vears, durina; which the 
three houses have grown into a parish of three hun- 
dred inhabitants. Two of Mrs. Nairn's daughters 
are married and settled in the village. Her son fell 
in the battle of Chrystler's Farm. 

Mrtlbay is the last settlement on the north bank of 
of the St. Lawrence. The only habitation beyond 
it, is a trading house of the Northwest Company, 
who drive a pretty gainful traffick with the Indians 
of (he neighbourhood, taking their furs at a shilling 
each, and selling them those commodities custom 
has rendered necessaries, at their own price; no 
pains, nor even violence being spared, to prevent 
any competition likely to diminish their profits. A 
striking instance of this spirit occurred last year at. 
Pistole. Nearly opposite to their trading post is a 
Canadian fishery, the business of which is generally 
carried on during the spring, when the fish frequent 
the south side of the river ; last year, however, 
owing to a scarcity of salt, it was necessarily put 
off until the autumn, when the fish are found on the 
north bank; but when the fishermen attempted to 
pursue their vocation in this direction, they were set 
upon by an armed party of the subaltern agents of 
the Northwest Company, their oars and boat tack- 
ling destroyed, and themselves set adrift, at the mer- 
cy of the elements. Fortunately they succeeded 
in gaining the shore in this condition, atid are since 
understood to have commenced a process against 
these lawless traders, who, themselves, unchartered 
monopolists, assumed the possibility of these fisher- 
mef) communicating with the Indians, as a pretext 
for this unprovoked outrage. 

The road from Malbay^o St. Paul's Bay, follows 
the direction of the river, over a tract of mountain 
country, occasionally crossed by deep glens, and 
covered with pine, cedar, elm, maple, birch, and 
wild cherry : neither oak, nor hickory, are found so 



(QUEBEC TO RAMOURASKA. 67 

far north. Scattered settlements are every where 
met with along the road, afid many an acre, on which 
the halt burnt pine-lrunks are still standing, ralher 
indicates the progress of culiivafion, than adds to 
the beauty of tiie landscape. Rallier more than half 
way betwixt Malbay and St. Paul's Bay, statids the 
little village of " Les E!)oulemen8." I stopped my 
caleche at tiie house of the cuie, whose rosy en 
boil point, and good h»iinour, betokened him equally 
at ease in spirituals and temporals.* He regaled 
me with wine and strawberries, served by his sister, 
the staid gouvernante of his small menage; and if 
wine an. I fruit, after a dusty journey, required any 
sauce, I should have found it in the pleasure my en- 
tertainers seemed to feel in my appetite. He la- 
mented he had nothing better to otfer me, but if I 
would stay a few days, and make his house my 
home, the best he could procure was at my service. 
The only return he required, or I could make, to 
this hospitality, was to tell him the news, and leave 
him my naaie, to add to the small list of strangers, 
who had honoured his humble domicile. Perverse 
fortune, that planted thy social spirit on the bleak 
crest of " Les Eboulemens !" not one, I trust, of 
thy few visitants, has forgotten the smile of thy ruddy 
countenance, thy band and cassock, somewhat the 
worse for time and snuflf, thy easy chair, and bre- 
viary tied up in black cloth ; or the neat flower 
garden round thy porch, whence, at the interval of 
thv evening devotion, I can fancy thine eye resting 
complacently on the lovely prospect it commands — 
the small white church, gleaming in the vale below; 
beyond it a succession of lofty capes and wooded 
promontories, jutting into the broad St. Lawrence ; 

* 1 am sorry to say, I did not do his philosophy sufficient 
honour by the conjecture ; I learned aflerwards tJiat he was 
very poor, being very generous, and no favourite with the 
bishup. 



68 qUEBEC TO KAIMOURASKA. 

and " Isle aiix Coiidres," Ijing, like a shield, on its 
bright wateis. 

Si. Paul'is Bay is a flourishing litlle village, much 
resembling Malbay, in site and ieature. Tlie parish 
is reckoned to contain about 2000 inhabitants, the 
greater part of them settled along the little river, 
whose mouth forms the bay, and which once proba- 
bly covered the soil on which the village is built. 
From St. Paul's Bay to Si. Joachim, there is a road 
planned, but, as [ had no! leisure to wait its making, 
I procuretl a boat to take me round Cape Tormento. 
" Isle aux CouUies" lies within the bay ; it is one of 
the earliest settlements in Canada, and said still to 
retain, with the simple manners, a considerable share 
of the national urbanity of its first colonist. My 
boat's crew, though strong in number, were weak in 
skill, nearly half of them being old men, for the first 
time in their lives handling an oar ; an evil which be- 
gan to be felt, as soon as we had to contend with the 
short swell, caused by the opposition of wind and 
<ide ; the contest, however, was but of short duration, 
for after a little bungling and tossing, and some awk- 
waid attempts, on (he part of our young hands, to 
laugh away their fright, we found ourselves obliged 
to make for the village of" La Petite Riviere," to 
prevent greater evils. 

After securing our boat, we wound our way through 
a marshy meadow, towards a small wooden house at 
the end of the villaiie, whose appearance bespoke it 
none of the best there, but it had the merit, as my 
commodore and pilot observed, of being kept by a 
clean woman, and of lying handy to the boat. We 
proceeded, accordingly, down the plashey path which 
led to it, and by the help of stepping stones, manoeu- 
vred across the duck-puddle round the door-way. 
The inferior, howe^e^, did not discredit the "gude 
wife's*'* character. The white-washed walls, against 
which hung the skin of a sea-wolf, were clean, and 
a small display of brown pans and many-coloured 



QUEBEC TO KAMOURASKA. 69 

crockery, neatly ai'ranged, fronted the door. The 
dame and her daughter readily lett their carding, lo 
set about preparing a meal: and" a pientit'ui ihsh of 
otulef, fried with bacon, and served up wiin maple 
sugar, was soon placed on what in heigiit and duiieu- 
sions might have passed equally for sioul or table. 
Three iron forks, and as many platters, coiupleaied 
our service; the only knife in the family being pro- 
duced from our host's breeches pocket, where it usu- 
ally reposed, afier its daily dudes of culling slicks, 
bread for the family consumption, and bacon. As 
there was nothing in (his banquet (o mtiuce excess, I 
ventured, immediately after it, to counuence a survey 
of the hamlet. It occupies a strip of land along tlic 
St. Lawrence, about four miles in length, and seldom 
half a mile in its greatest breath. lowarOs either 
end of it, the bold ridge-shores closes in, and narrows 
this distance into little more than the breadih oi a 
road, and pebbly beach. This screen of rocks, ris- 
ing precipitously to the height of several hundred 
feet, and thus etfeolually proiecting the terrilory of 
this secluded colony from the chilliug north-west 
winds,* is cloathed to the summit with deep groves 
of pines, beeeh, and maple ; the latter of which atlord 
annually more than sufficient sugar for the consump- 
tion of the inhabitants. The style of their houses is 
at once snbstantial and commodious: walls freshly 
white-washed, and deftly-trimmed gardens, denote a 

* Experience confirms tlie rational conjecture, that it is to 
the severity of this wind, sweeping over the bleak regions of 
Hudson's Bay, and the Labrador coast, that the extreme cold 
ot" Lower Canada is principally attribntable. Thenorlh-wester- 
iy course of the streams whicli fall into the St. Lawrence, on 
its left bank, by openina; a passage to this wind, obviates the 
good effects of the shelter aflbrded by its lofty shores. The 
village of La I'etite Hiviere seems indebted for its genial cli- 
mate to the favourable distinction of being watered by a 
stream too narrow and winding to leave any considerable 
breach in the heights, by which it is sheltered, for the wind to 
pass through. 



76 <iCEBEC TO KA.MOCRASKA. 

condition beyond ihe mere grovelling of existence. 
They are grouped, or irregularly scattered along the 
road, each embosomed in its own tufted orchard, at 
once the wealth and glory of its owner. This luxuri- 
ant abundance of fruit trees is not only the most 
graceful feature of (he scene, but a very striking pe- 
culiarity in the site and soil of this favoured spot, 
which protluces apples as abundantly, and of equal 
quality with tfiose of Montreal ; plums, cherries, and 
currants no less plentifully : even the peach deigns to 
ripen here, though found no where besides in Cana- 
da, to the west of the Niagara frontier. Fruit 19 
therefore the staple co'nuiodity of the village, and 
obtains for the inhabitants, not only the corn they 
have not space to raise in sufficient quantity for their 
consumption, but the few articles they are accustom- 
ed to consider the luxuries of life. 

At the lower end of the village, a rustick bridge 
of pine logs, crosses " La Petite Riviere." I sat 
down on a tallen tree to admire this swift gurgling 
streamlet, as it came from its green alcove, 

" Making sweet musick with th' enameled stones," 

and constrasting its white broken current with the 
deep, and varied verdure of the birch, pine, and ma- 
ple, over-arching its rocky banks, as if to veil the 
secret urn, and repose of its Naiad. On my way 
back, I accepted one of the nuny courteous offers of 
the " Fathers of the Hamlet," to enter his house and 
refresh myself. After taking a glass of milk, the 
good (nan offered me, as the greatest treat within his 
means, rum and tobacco ; and on mv declining both, 
" What," said he, " you neither drink rum nor smoke 
tobacco? How rich you must be!" I could not 
assent to his conclusion, though it would, in general, 
be just enough if in the place of rum and tobacco, 
one should substitue the equivalent luxuries of more 
polish ed life. He informed me, the hamlet contain- 



dUEBEC TO KAMOURASKA. 71 



ed thirty fires, and one hundred and thirty grown up 
persons ; or as he expressed it, " Comninniranls ;" 
persons receiving; the sacrament : a criterion of popu- 
lation very common in Lower Canada, and very ill 
snited to most other countries. All his observations 
bespoke a mind cheerful and contented, lie praised 
the excellence of the soil, and observed, it was one of 
the earliest settlements in Canada. " Their young 
men," he said, " had gone out during; the war, but 
most of them had returned safe, for Sir George had 
always spared the Cana<iians.'* He offered me his 
house, if I was unprovided with a lodging, adding, 
that every house in the village would be equally at 
my service, either for myself, or the persons who 
came with me. I repaid his kind oflfers, by giving 
him the best advice I could, on the disordered state 
of a watch he had purchased of a knavish tradesman 
in Quebec ; and we parted, I think with somewhat 
more of cordial leave-taking, than usually graces the 
separation of such brief acquaintance 

On returning from my walk, I found my host's 
family collected round a blazing hearth, though in 
the month of July. They could not sufficiently 
wonder among themselves, that I should have walk- 
ed to the end of their village from mere curiosity ; a 
restless feeling, with which the Canadian gentleman 
or peasant is little troubled. An iron lamp having 
been trimmed, and hung against the wall, a copious 
mess of milk porridge was served up for supper ; soon 
after which, the old people retired to an inner room, 
to perform their evening devotions, while the younger 
members of the family knelt round the apartment, and 
havina; prayed some time in silence, retired to rest. 
If prayers can enter heaven, i! must surely be, when 
they thus rise, a voluntary offering from the dwelling 
of contented poverty. I was roused, at midnight, to 
mount a bare-backed nag, which a barefooted gossoon 
led by the halter, through lanes aud meadows, till 
emerging among the rocks, a distant light directed iis 



72 QUEBEC TO KAMOURASKA. 

to our bofit, which lay, as the lide was lov/, some way 
in the sfreara, and we presently proceeded on our 
voya2;e. The cold slar-beain enabled us to discern 
the dark outline of Cape Tonnento, rising almost 
perpendicularly from the vvater's edge. Its bei^j^ht is 
estirnated by the Canadians at 1800 feet ; but I should 
think 800 a sufiBcient allowance. I landed soon after 
day dawn, near St. Joachim. Here is a house with 
lands, belonging to the Quebec seminary, farmed out 
under tfie inspection of a steward. I fancied the cul- 
tivation of them su^erioiir in method, and their crops 
more abundant than any I had seen. The soil is al- 
together alluvial, lying on a level with the river,betwixt 
it and its rocky banks, as if redeemed from the water. 
My guide, charioteer, or carter, (for be it known, 
St. Joachim could fiunish no costlier vehicle than 
a carl,) having introduced himself to my notice, with 
a compliment to the frankness and honour of his own 
dealiuiis, (of which, by-lhe-bye, I had some little 
doubt,) proceeded to inform me of a far more obvi- 
ous peculiarity in his character; " ^«'t7 an/to j7 beau- 
conp d, jaser en chernin.^' He followed up this enun- 
ciaiion, or rather denunciation, with a succession of 
interrogatories, monologues, and eulogies on his steed 
" Papillon," (who had certainly nothing volatile in 
bis whole anatomy,)' and good luimouredly apologis- 
ed, from time to time, for his excessive loquacity, 
wh rh he ascribed to an extreme thirst for informa- 
tion ; without adding, whether for giving or receiv- 
ing it. He expressed much surprise at the pains 
taken, and bows bestowed by the parliamentary can- 
didates of the province ; said, he imagined it must 
be '■'■pour Vhonneiir,^^ and desired to know if it was 
the same in England ; I replied in the afiSrmative, 
with regard to the pains-taking and bowing, though 
I could not add it was altogether "jpo«r /'/townewr." 
No less was his surprise at what he deemed my ab- 
stemoionsness, when he found I took no meal be- 
twixt breakfast and a four o'clock dinner ; detailing, 



QUEBEC TO KAMOURASKA. TS 

at the same time, the four diurnal meals with which 
he appeased his own appetite. " I should like much 
to travel wilh you, said he, but instead of receiving 
wages, I should request to eal as 1 lilted." 

From St. Joachim the road runs at the foot of the 
cliffs, for the greater part of the way to Montmo- 
renci ; numberless little streams come hissing dewn 
the furrowed rocks, and having fed the thriving or- 
chards, which cluster at their base, are received in 
stone tanks, round which, the bare-armed, naked- 
footed, (I am sorry I cannot say silver-footed,) dam- 
sels of the village repair, unconsciously, to imitate 
the daughters of king Alcinous. At Quebec I part- 
ed with my garrulous friend, who v.ery courteously 
pressed me to make bis house my quarter, should 
chance again lead me to St. Joachitn, adding, by way 
of reply to ray hint of the improba!)ility of such an 
occurrence, that " though mountains could not meet, 
men might." 



10 



174] 



CHAPTER XIII. 



THE FALLS OF THE CHAUDIERE. 



The Falls of the Chaudiere are about four miles 
from ihe junction of thi Chaudiere with the St. Law- 
rence, which takes place on its south shore, five miles 
above Q,iiebec. There are few who will not ac- 
count an excursion hither, among the interesting dajs 
of their life. The wooded cliffs of the St. L:iw- 
rence, with Siliori, and New Liverpool, looking out, 
on opposite sides, from their romantic seclusion ; the 
broad expanse of the river itself, widening out from 
Cap Rouge, as the bastioned heights of Q,uebec 
seem to close its northern outlet ; the frequent sail, 
or heavy timber-raft, "floating many a rood," pre- 
pare the mind, by a succession of pleasing objects, 
for the enjoyment of the scene which awaits it. Af- 
ter walking from the little cove, in which you land, 
to the village of St. Nicholas, (about half a mile,) 
you are furnished wjfh a conveyance, cart orcaleche, 
to within a mile of the Falls. The roa<l turns from 
the village through the fields, and after descending 
into a little pebbly streamlet, passes through a deep 
wood, principally of pine and maple, in the middle 
of which, it ceases to be practicable for carriages ; 
you continue by a footpath, and suddenly emerge 
upon a ledge of rocks, whose disjointed masses, and 
strata, upheaved from their primaeval bed, seem, 
while the rush of waters thunders around, to denote 
the immediate presence of some destroying minister 
of nature. Continuing over these recks, you arrive 
at a crag, projecting midway across the river, and 



THE PALLS OP THE CHAUniERB. 75 

crested wiih a sin2;le cedar. The Falls are now 
direciiy bef'oie yon; (he river, 240 yards in breadth, 
precipitales iiself above 100 perpeiuJicular feet ; the 
bed of (he tall is a red clay-slate, regularly, and even 
fancifully penciled with (hin layers of soft grey stone ; 
this gayely of colouring, while it pleasingly relieves 
the solemn grandeur of the scene, lends a russet tinge 
to the descending flood, whone broken masses foam 
in their descent, "like the maue of a chesnut 
steed." 

Part of it falls over a ledge of rocks, at an oblique 
angle to the main channel, forming a lesser cascade, 
which, but for its uiagnificent neighbour, would itself 
be an interesting object. Nearly on the line of the 
falls, a wall of granite, about six feet in height, and 
three in thickness, springs through the strata, forming 
the bed of the river, and traverses them in a straight 
line, until broken through by the lesser fall, beyond 
which a fragment of it appears again, seeming to in- 
dicate, that it had once extended across the torrent, 
and resisted its passage. 

There is no other appearance of granite immedi- 
ately round the falls, though immense masses of it 
cumber the stream about half a mile below them, and 
form considerable rapids ; viewed from this spot, the 
falls lie in beautiful perspective, beyond the cliffs, 
which project from either shore, in (heir front.* 

The surrounding scenery is grand and quiet. The 
stately woods have never bowed before the ravage 
of improvement, nor has the stream been tortured, 
and diverted from its channel, for the supply of grist 
and saw mills. The freshness of nature is in every 
sight and soimd, and cold miist be the heart that feels 
not a momentary glow, while thus standing in the 
presence of her wildest loveliness. 

* The corresponding position of these cliffs on both sides of 
the stream, aff »rds strong reason to think they once formed 
part or the ledge of the Fail, which has since worn its way 
backward to its present situation. 



[76] 



CHAPTER XIV. 



QUEBEC TO MONTREAL. 



July 28th, Bridge of Jacques Cartier, 
29tli, Tliree Rivprs, 
30th, Falls of Siiawinnegamrae, 
August 1st, Bertliier, 
2d, St, Ours, 
St. Antoine, 
St. Denys, 
BelcEil, 
4th, Longueil, 
Montreal, 



Miles. 



ine, > 
s, ) 



33 


03 Caleche. 


21 Canoe. 


40 Ciileche. 


1 Ferry. 


24 


16 1 2 


24 Caleche. 


4 Ferry. 



220 1-2 



Travellers frequently make a small detour to 
pass by the Jacques Cartier bridge, six or seven 
miles above the ferry. The river coraes widely 
down betwixt its wooded shores, and, after forming 
several cascades, foams through a narrow channel, 
which seems chisselled out of the solid rock to receive 
it, and, having passed the bridge, buries itself from 
the eye of the spectator, in the deep valley below. 
The rock, which constitutes its bed, is formed into re- 
gular platforms, descending by natural steps to the 
edge of the torrent. The Jacques Cartier is famous for 
its salmon, which are taken of a great size, and in great 
abundance below the bridge, at the foot of which 
stands a little inn, where the angler may have his 
game cooked for supper, and sleep in the lull of the 
torrent below his chamber window. Its white-washed 
parlour is adorned with stuffed birds, fishing tackle, 
records of large fish caught, and such like sporting 
trophies. I supped ingloriously, but heartily, on 



QUEBEC TO MONTREAL. 77 

salmon I had not captured. After quitting this 
neighbourhood, the scener/ of the St. Lawrence 
becomes flat and luiiform. The high lands, wliich 
skirt the horizon of Q,nebec, fall off lowards the 
north-west, leaving an expanse of level country as 
far as the hiil, which the primitive settlers, in admi- 
ration of its solitary, and king-like eminence, de- 
nominated the Royal Mountain. The roatl follows 
the direction of the river, sometimes running along 
the beetling cliff, which once embanked it, and some- 
titnes descending (o the water's edge, along (he nar- 
row alluvion time has redeemed from its bed. 

From Quebec to Montreal may be called one long 
village. On either shore a stripe of land, seldom ex- 
ceeding a mile in breadlb, (except near the streams 
which fall into the St. Lawrence,) bounded by ab- 
original forests, and thickly sfudtied with low-brow- 
ed farm houses, white-washed from top to bottom, 
to which a log-barn and stable are aftached,-and com- 
moidy a neat plot of gartlen ground, represen's all 
that is inhabited of Ijowfir Canada. A cluster of 
these houses becomes a village, generally honoured 
with the name of some saint, whose church glitters 
afar with tin spires and belfry. Upon the shoulders 
of this patron saint, the Canadian rests the chief 
part of his caies, both temporal and eternal — having 
committed his seed to the same ground, and in llie 
same manner with his forefathers, he trusts that the 
" bon Dieii'^ will, through the intercession of the 
said saint, do the rest. Should an inclement season, 
as was the case last year, disappoint his hopes, he 
is prepared patiently to confess himself, and die of 
hunger, fully persuaded that the blessed St. Anne, 
or St. Anthony, will not fail him in both worlds. 

The spirit, which endures an evil rather than 
overcome it, is not very favourable to the comfort 
of a traveller : it indicates bad roads, bad inns, bad 
horses, and bad carriages ; all which he finds ac- 
cordingly ; yet in spite of all these, I prefer the 



78 I'HREE RIVERS, &C. 

travelling of Lower Canada, to that of every other 
part of the American Continent. Yon arrive at the 
post honse, (as the words " maison de posle,^* 
scrjiwled over the door give you notice, though the 
premises present no fnrther hint of the appointment, 
than perhaps a tattered caieche under the adjoining 
shed.) " Have you horses, Madame ?" " oju", Man- 
sieiir, tout de sHi7e," — A loud cry of ^* Oh ! ban 
hommey'^ succeeds, to forward the intelligence to her 
husband, at work in the adjacent field — " Mais, as- 
seyes voiis, iMonsieur :^^ — and if you have patience 
to do this quietly for a few minutes, yon will see 
Crebilion, Papillon, or some other on arrive from 
pasture, mounfed by honest Jean in his blue night 
cap, with all his haliilinents shaking in the wind, at 
a full canter. The invariable preliminary of splicing 
and compounding the broken harness having been 
adjusted, the whip cracks, and you start to the ex- 
hilarating cry of " marche donc^^' at the rate of six, 
and often, seven miles an hour, with no stoppages. 
Should a further degree of speed be required, the 
place of the English "extra shilling" is cheaply 
supplied by a few flowers of rheforick, bestowed in 
the shape of an eulogium on Jean's punchy, fumb- 
ling nag. " Oh Monsieur, il est bien capable,*' is 
his complacent reply, Cfor be it known, that no 
knight of chivalry ere prized his gallant Bayardo, 
more than the Cmadian his dumplin courser,) and 
straightway, an additional mile in his hour's driving 
makes good his boast, and places, beyond the slur of 
sceptical doubt or criticism, Crebillon's fame. 



THREE RIVERS, AND FALLS OF SHAWFNNEGAMME. 

The village of " Trois Rivieres" stands at the 
mouths of the St. Maurice, which, being three in 
number, were mistaken by Juques Cartier, or his 



THREE RIVERS, &C. 79 

successors, for three distinct rivers, and thence the 
village had its name. If contains an Ursuline con- 
vent, which marks it for a place of some nole in a 
catholick country ; but it is still more worthy of dis- 
tinction for being the residence of the Abbe de 
Calonne, brother to the French minister of that 
Darae, so unfortunately memorable. This excellent 
old man, on (he return of Louis XVIII. to France, 
came into possession of property (chiefly forest- 
lands, which had remained in the hands of the go- 
vernment) to the \alue of 3000/ per annum, the 
whole of which he immediately divided betwixt his 
nephews ; rightly judging that the real affection of 
relatives consists, not in a testamentary gift of 
wealth they are no longer able to enjoy, but in the 
speediest application of whatever means they pos- 
sess, for promoting the happiness of their connex- 
ions. For himself, he considers it wealth enough 
that be is able to employ the evening of life in acts 
of piety and benevolence towards his little cure, 
whose fears will honour his bier, and their grateful 
remembrance be all his glory upon earth. He was 
at this time actively engaged in alleviating the dis- 
tress residting from the last year's defective har- 
vest. The inhabitants of many villages had, for 
sometime, been reduced to live on such vegetables 
as they could pick from the woods and fields, and 
many had died of famine. Considerable relief was 
afforded by the sale of commissariat stores, which 
had been collected largely in case of a continuance 
of war. This measure had, perhaps, some colla- 
teral effect in producing the scarcity, but the pro- 
duction of such extreme distress from a single bad 
harvest, may be considered, generally, as symp- 
tomafick of a bad system of agriculture. 

Having procured two experienced boatmen, with 
a bark canoe, I ascended the St. IMaurice, to visit 
the Falls of Shawinnegamme. The river banks, at 
first low, -rise, on ascending the stream, to the height 



80 THREE RIVERS, ScC. 

somefimes of 300 feet. There is an iron forge on 
the right bank, about seven miles frorti Trois Ri- 
vieres ; after which, the silence of the scene is 
broken but by the sound of the Rapids, or the call 
of the wild duck, as she skims through the sedges 
before the approach of the cauoe. Considerable 
skill and exerlion are requisite to force these frail 
vehicles over the ledges of rock which form the ra- 
pids : shoidd the boat-pole break, or be unskilfully 
planted, your paper craft is hurried off at the mercy 
of the torrent, and dashed to atoms : yet of this 
there is no danger; or, at leas!, no more than suflSces 
to give the spirits an agreeable impulse. After as- 
cending about fifteen miles, we disembarked at two 
portages, within a short distance of each other, form- 
ed by immense masses of granite, wildly scattered 
across the river bed, round which the stream roars 
and dashes, as if indignant at their resistance, and 
precipitates itself, somefimes to the depth of thirty 
or forty feet, cresting its tawny^ waters with foam 
and vapour. One of the boatmen took the canoe, 
fourteen feet in length, on his head, the other carry- 
ing its contents, and walked steadily with it, and his 
fowlingpiece in his hand, across rocks I found it 
quite enough to carry myself over. After paddling 
a few miles further, the river expanded into an ample 
basin, closed round with pine-clad mountains, re- 
flected from its limpid bosom. Yet in this seeming 
security dwells the greatest danger: the stream des- 
cending rapidly into it, frorn the immediate vicinity 
of the falls, is unable to find an exit with equal cele- 
rity at the opposite point, where the channel nar- 
rows ; part of it, therefore, makes a turn within the 
basin, and produces a vortex about its centre, in 
which some of the early voyageurs perished. The 
diflSculty is easily avoided, when known, by creeping 

* The St. Maurice, from tlie dark colour of its waters, is 
GommoDJy called the Black Hirer. 



THREE RIVERS, &C. 81 

close round the eJge of the shore. About half a 
mile abo\e the basin, the river again widens. The 
luinbling of ivalers is now heard distinctly ; nothing 
however is visible but a smooth sheet of water, at 
the bottom of wliicli, a lofty barrier of wooded rocks 
forbids all further progress. Cliffs, equally lofty, 
rise on either side, it is not till yon have nearly 
reached the shore in front, that you perceive the 
Falls, rushing down on \<)nr right liand into a gloomy 
nooic, which seems hollowed out for their reception. 
I sliould conjecture their descent to be about 100 
feet ;* but the fall is not perpendicular, and is di- 
vided by an islet, or mass of rocks, on wliich a few 
pine and cedar trees have taken root. The current 
betwixt this island and the right bank does not ex- 
ceed the width of twelve yaids. The extreme 
breadth of both falls together, may be sixty ; this, 
however, is not easily estimated, because no front 
view can be obtained, but from the perpendicular 
cliflfs which form the elbow round them, and which 
I had no means of ascending. Mnch clambering is 
reqinsife to reach the head of the descent, for the 
regular carrying path cuts ott" the whole anale, and 
though my boatmen had repeatedly aaceiuled the 
river to the highlands, (above 100 leagues*,) they 
had never before approached the Falls. The rocks 
round the foot of them are covered with trunks and 
liudis of trees, worn round and smooth, as if turned 
in a lathe, by the action of the torrent. After 
spreading my repast on a granite table, and sharing 
my rustick meal with my conductors, we paddled 
rapidly down the current, and by the aid of a bright 
moon, reached Three Rivers at ten o'clock, making 
forty-four miles in thirteen hours. 

* The diflffrent fails and rapids hetwixt the mouth of th^ 
river, and thti grtat fall, cannot tso reckoned at less than 10D 
feet more: lor th( whole descent of the river in this space, 
15d would probably be no extreme calculation. 
11 



82 THREE RIVERS, &C. 

After quitting the St. Maiuice, the tributary 
streams of the Si. Lawrence descend siowly and 
muddily through a considerable extent of flat coun- 
try, which skirts Lake St. Peter, and spreads at the 
back of the Montreal Island, as far as the Two 
Mountains. The only marked elevation through 
these extensive flats, is the ancient bank of the 
river, from thirty to fifty feet high, running in the 
direction of, but at various distances from, its pre- 
sent channel. Betwixt the Masquenonge and Ber- 
Ihier, its distance is about a mile. M. Volney ob- 
serves, that this second ramp is more particularly 
distinguishable along the rivers of the west.* It 
is, however, not less remarkable on the St. Law- 
rence, and its tributary streams, as far as Lake On- 
tario. It is not only to be traced along the course 
of the river generally, but follows each bay and 
winding with a corresponding flexure, thus indicat- 
ing, that the subsequent change in the volume of wa- 
ter has taken place gradually, and without violence. 
I could never discover a single creek without this 
accompaniment, though the traveller repeatedly en- 
counters these banks, separated by a flat channel of 
eighty or a hundred yards in width, overgrown with 
trees, through which the track of a scanty streamlet 
is scarcely marked by a line of verdure, fresher than 
the adjacent bottom. 

The number of abandoned mill-seats, particularly 
in parts of the country recently settled, as well 
as the difficulty of working many of those still in 
use, shew the same process of draining to be still 
continuing. 

The little change which has taken place in the 
line and figure of these slopes warrants the belief, 
that [ew centuries have passed since the greater part 
of the cultivated land of this continent was sub- 
merged in morass, and pouring rivers, which have 

* Tableau du Climat, &c. i. p. 89. 



THREE RIVERS, &C. 83 

since entirely disappeared, or been greatly reduced 
in their limits. Where (he country is flat, this se- 
cond bank must be sought at a considerable distance 
from the present channel; so that a general rise of 
fifty or sixty feet would probably overflow much of 
the inhabited country betwixt the Jaques Carlier 
and St. Maurice, tJie whole neighbourhood of Lake 
St. Peter and the Richelieu river, to ihe foot of the 
Belffiil MoiMitain, with the southwest shores of the 
Montreal Island, and the greater part of the upper 
province, betwixt the Uttawa and the neighbour- 
hood of Prescolt. 

Having ferried from Berthier to Contrecoeur, 1 
proceeded, " en caleche,^^ with two Crebillons, to- 
wards St. Ours, in the direction of the Beloeil Moun- 
tain, towering in the misty horizon. The meadows 
were profusely decorated with the rich orange lily, 
and the banks and dingles with the crimson cones of 
the sumack, and a variety^ of flowering shrubs. Se- 
veral brigs and merchant-ships were dropping down 
with the tide, their crowded sails scarcely swelling 
in the languid summer breeze, which just suflSced to 
temper the glowing atmosphere of August. 

The Canadian summer (though the present year 
formed in some degree an exception) is hot in pro- 
portion to the severity of the winter, which enables 
the cultivator to raise Indian corn, water melons, 
gourds, capsicums, and such vegetables as require 
a short and intense heat ; a circumstance which 
lends the country the aspect of a Portuguese sum- 
mer, by way of appendix to a Russian winter. M. 
Volney observes, (torn. i. p. 13 1,) that this is the 
case along the whole extent of the Atlantick coast, 
as far as the southern states ; each portion of which 
is both hotter in summer, and colder in winter, than 
its parallels in Europe, by many decrees. The 
greatest heat experienced this summer (esteemed a 
very cold one) at Quebec was 92^ of Fahren. In 
the shade, 80" and 82'* were average temperatures 
during July and August. 



[84 ] 



CHAPTER XV. 



THE BELCEIL MOUNTAIN. 

On my arrival at the unfrequented village of Beloeil, 
I proceeded, according to the travelling custom in 
Canada, to the house of the cure, who generally 
considers, in ihe reinoJer parts of the country, the 
trifling charges of hospitality repaid by the novelty 
of a stranger's, visit, and by -the little news he cora- 
moniy brings with him ; but the cuie of Belceil was a 
youth of the new school, a cold lanky figure, as 
different from my mountain friend in manners, as in 
appearance. With a very stiff apology, he recom- 
mended me and my baggage to a neighbouring an- 
berge, where 1 found more tolerable accommodation 
than the exteriour seemed to promise ; it had, how- 
ever, one puzzling quality, but which could be ex- 
hibited in wet weather onlv ; when the shutters were 
open, the windows would not keep out the rain, and 
when they were closed, they would not let in the 
light, so that jfor one wet forenoon I had to choose 
betwixt darkness and deluge. The next morning I 
again crossed the river, and proceeded towards the 
mountain, which towered like a wall of rock above 
the flat country round it. A few wretched houses 
are scattered at its base, the inhabitants of which 
subsist chiefly by the produce of their apple-or- 
chards, whose luxuriant verdure richly embowers 
the whole slope, until the ascent becotnes difficult. 
At the end of this hamlet is a mill, built on the edge 
of a ravine, and turned by the streamlet of the 
mountain-lake descending down it. Here I stopped 
to breakfast ; for the mill serves in the capacity of 



THE BF.LtEIL MOUNTAIN. 85 

an inn, to (lie few \vho;n chance may mislead, or 
repenlance for the sin of ghittony induce to slop at . 
it. I founil, however, bread, milk, and fresh eggs, 
(hut no tea-spoon to oat them with,) and paid the 
price of a London hotel breakfast ; a strong proof of 
the actual want prevailing in the province. To 
avoid (he tliick murky air of the dwelling, I had my 
table piiiced out of doors, in the shade of the house, 
and breakfasted to (he admiration of half a dozen' 
curly ragged heads, clustering at the window to 
watch how I ate; an honour, I remember, paid to 
the great traveller Gulliver, by the natives of Lilli- 
put. 

After breakfast I began the ascent. The first 
part of the way lies through a deep grove of maplq, 
and presents no grealer difficuliy than that of mount- 
ing, or creeping round the masses of rock which 
cover the groutid, and etfectually bar the road to 
one unacquainted with its defdes. The ragged ur- 
chin, who served me as guide, led on, like a goat 
bred on the soil, \\p the narrow tract, which, now 
ascending above the shelter of the woods, exposed 
us to a burning sun ;*" the dust and faligue of clamb- 
ering were in no want of this additional ally to ren- 
der the expedition somewhat fatiguing. The height 
of the first pinnacle is 1200 feet; it is separated from 
the highest point, called the Sugar Lt)af, by a deep 
and thickly timbered valley, towards the end of 
which, a beautiful lake, about half a n'lile in circum- 
ference, reposes amid its woods ; so calm, secluded, 
and raised above the earth, it seenis the Mountain- 
Spirits' bath, or the magick lake of some Arabian 
fiction. It abounds with excellent fish, thou.;h I 
have no reason to think they are of four colours, or 
make speeches in the frying-pan. 

* The ttiermoraeter stood at 80** in the shade, before I be- 
gan to ascend. 



86 THE BELCEIL MOUN'TAIN'. 

From the summit of the cone,* (for the Sugar 
Loaf has some little chtim to its appellation,) the eye 
co:nmands the course of the St. Lawrence, with its 
two lakes ; and betwixt them, the town and heights 
of Montreal : on ons side, the course of the Riche- 
lieu, with the Chamb'.y fort and basin, and frontier 
woods beyond ; on the other, the Atauiasca ; and to 
the south, continued mountain ridges, fading in the 
distance : except in this direction, the whole pros- 
pect is a level plain of woodland, intersected and 
spotted with brown patches of cultivation, and white 
villages. 

Volumes of smoke, from the casual, or intentional 
burning of woods, every where clouded the horizon, 
and seemed to give additional heat to the glowing 
landscape. 

The basis of the mountain is granite, forming a 
bold termination to that branch of the Green IMoun- 
tains, which divides the waters of lake Champlain 
fro<n the sources of the Ataaiasca and St. Fran- 
cis. y On my way down, I stopped to retVesh my- 
self at a delicious spring, in the valley of the lake, 
repaving the favour, as I could best afford, with an 
idle verse : — 

Seldom. O N"aiad, thy sequester'd dell 
Hatli pils^riin trod.ieii. or l)ent o'er thy well 
To slake liH thir<t. and lave his tlirol)I)in2; hrow. 
And thank tliee lor tlie boon, as I do now ! 
Thiue is no stinted draught, but largely given 
As blessings are rain'd dawn on man by heav'n ; 
Not as man gives to man — Therefore I'll think, 
In future days, upon thy grassy brink, 
And nanr^less spring : cold, uudistnrb'd and clear. 
As Alpine icicles, or holy seer, 

* The height of this pinnacle has been ascertained to be 
1400 feet. 

f Volney observes, i, 49. 

" Le soramet do la raontagne de Belosil est de grauit, anisi 
que le chainon des montagues blanches de New Hampshire, 
auquel on pout dire qu'il appartient." 



THE BELffilL MOUNTAIN. 87 

Whose bosom passion never tonch'd with fire : 

And this day's memory shall live entire. 

To tell how on an August noon I toil'd 

To gain Belteil's rude summits; all l)emoil'd ■ 

With threading the hot wilderness of boughs, 

Whose intertwining, scanty path allows; 

And climbing rocks ol' granite, broad and bare, 

Which, thus upheaving their grey sides in air, 

Like Nature's altars seem ; or giant thrones. 

Where mountain Genii sit, to catch the tones 

Of hcav'n's high minstrelsy, and thence prolong 

In waterfalls and breezes, the deep song. 

The peak at length, and topmost stone I won, 

And gaz'd upon the landscape, wide and dun; 

Far-gleaming lakes, and the majestick river. 

Whose silver waters through the brown fields quiver; 

Broad forests mapp'd all ronnd, the royaJ hill. 

In sultry mistiness repos'd and still : 

Descending thence, I hail thy silent bower, 

In its green freshness, at this glowing hour, 

When birds are panting in the leafy brakes, ' 

And the biythe grashopper shrill musick makes, 

A noontide reveller — and long for thee 

Be this, thy vajley of the mountain, free 

From woodman's stroke ; so o'er thy shaded spring 

These towering maples shall their verdure fling. 

And. shield-like, their broad brandies overspread, 

To fence the coolness of thy mossy bed^ 

My harp is feeble. Naiad, and its tone 

Best heard by echoes, lonely as thine own, 

Else, with Bandusia's fountain, thou shouldsl live 

Th' immortal lite sweet poetry can give. 

Thou, and thy kindred lake, whose moonlight brim, ^ 

No summer elves have printed, gemm'd and trim, > 

Evok'd by shepherd's reed, or raiustrel's hymn. S 



i 88 ] 



CHAPTER XVI. 



MONTREAL. 

The basis of the Montreal Mountain is freestone; 
the ascent is consequently less steep, and the sur- 
face less broken, than those of Beloeil : it is thickly 
w.joiled, and, form the river, forms an elegant back- 
giOiuid to the city: I should not suppose its height 
to exceed 1000 feet. Montreal is regularly built, for 
the most part of stone, and paved. In front of the 
gaol and courthouse, is a column- in honour of Lord 
Nelson, crovned with his statue. "^ 

The religious and charitable institutions of Mon- 
treal are counterparts of those at Q,oebec. The 
principal Cafholick church is rich and han<lso:ne. 
The protestant church, like its brother at Q,;iebec, 
will probably decay ere finished. There seems 
so netbing in the Canadian climate, unfavourable to 
the growth of Protestant churches, thoiscch the En- 
glish inhabitants are great friends to Protestant as- 
cendancy ; a feeling less costly than church build- 
ing. The college, or seminary, a capacious stone 
building, has been lately repaired and enlaiged. It 
was originally endowed as a branch of the seminary 
of Piris; and has afforded an asylu.n, since the re- 
volution, to several of the members of the latter, 
whose learning and talents have been employed in 
its advancement.! . The finest lands of the island 

* It seems odd. tliat instead of a column to Lord Nelson, 
wtiose services, however glorious, were not very iminediatelj 
connected with Canada, it was not thonsjht preferable to erect 
some mertaorial to the memory of Wolfe. 

t This asylum was opened to them by our government. 



MONTREAL. 89 

belong to if. There seems a greater spirit of niuni- 
ci|)al iin(M-ovenienf in IMontreal than in Quebec : it 
is piobablv richer: besides being the emporium of 
the fur trade, its merchants carry on a considerable 
trafficii with the United States, particularly Vermont, 
and the back country of New York. The fur-tra- 
ders, or North-westers, as they are familiary termed, 
take the lead in society, for they give the best din- 
ners. Their ladies have consequently the privilege 
of leading the fashions ; an eminence not less anx- 
iously dipsired, nor preserved with fewer heart burn- 
ings, in a little town on the St. Lawrence, than in 
the capitals of France and England. 

The winter is accounted two months shorter here 
than at Quebec. The summer heat seems more 
oppressive : the flat and sheltered site of the town, 
its roofs covered with tin, and its window shutters 
plated with iron, together with abundance of dust, 
produce a furnace-like atmosphere. I met with no- 
thins in the (own which could be called remarkable, 
except a pathetick address to a run-a-way wife from 
her disconsolate husband, written on a window-pane 
where, I lodged. I call this remarkable, for surely 
it is a strange propensity to make an attempt on 
publick sympathy, by a disclosure of troubles more 
likely to excite ridicule than pity. We find, in- 
deed, at every turn in life, persons eager to lighten 
their griefs by sharing them, even with a stranger, 
if he can be induced to lend a serious coimtenance 
to their recital, but this attempt upon the sympathy 
of strangers abstractedly, seems an odder instance 
of this leakiness of sorrow. 

I imagined, but did not subscribe, the following re- 
ply :— 

And who art thoii, unfortunate, whose pain 

Thus asks the general tear ? 
Thy share of wo could'st thou so ill sustain, 

That thou sbould'st write it here ? 

12 



\ 



d0 



MONTREAL. 



To meet the gaze of laughter-loving scorn, 

And court the publick jeer ? 
Deem'st thou, that first of men, the nuptial born 

Thy brow hath glorified ? 
Yet learn such honours should be meekly worn 

Nor perk them in our faces, to deride 
Patient believers in a constant bride. 

Frail as this scribbled glass 
Are those fair things we worship and despise ; 

Nor, — should thy life-blood pass 
Like rain-drops, — will they heed the sacrifice: 

To thy fair wanton's ears 
The voice of thy complaint like musick flows ; 

And gemm'd with lover's tears, 
The coronal of Beauty brighter glews : 

Then deem not she'll relent. 
Or stoop the wild wing of her joyous flight, 

Pitying thy fond lament ! 
Thou rather, in some cell of eremite, 

Thy foolery repent. 
That knew'st not Love's sweet flowers with venom were 
aye blent. 



[ 91 ] 



CHAPTER XVII. 



MONTREAL TO THE BOUNDARY. 



Aug. 7th. 



8th. 



La Chine 


7 Miles. 


Point Clair 


9 


St. Anne 


9 


[Ferry 


3] 


Cedars 


9 


Coteau-du-Lac , 


7 Caleche. 



44 



The road from Montreal to the ferry crosses a coun- 
try generally level, but pleasingly diversified with 
wood and cultivated land, for the most part meadow. 
The hay harvest had commenced, and the fragrance 
of the fresh swathe seemed to unite with the cooling 
aspect of the broad St. Lawr»nce in tempering the 
sun's heat. The villages of La Chine, and Point 
Clair, were enlivened by groups of soldiers, who had 
marched in from Montreal, and were taking up their 
quarters for the night ; occasionally small parties of 
Indians, from the opposite village of Cochenouaga, 
with their hats tricked out with feathers, necklaces 
of large blue beads, tinsel girdles, and bronzed in- 
fants, looking out from their cradles,* at their moth- 
ers' backs, formed a fanciful contrast to the regular 
costume of the soldiers. 

* I use this word for want of a better : the Indian wonaen 
still fasten their children to a flat board, which hangs behind 
them, and is defended by small hoops of wicker, on the expos- 
ed side. 



92 MONTREAL TO THE BOUNDARY. 

The bustle of the road had all vanished by the 
time I eiiiered the little wood imnieiliately round the 
ferry, and was succeeded by a scene ot quiet splen- 
dour, that Claude would have delighted in. I sealed 
myself on a rock, near the wafer's edge, to admire it. 
An orchard, beionj^ing to the ferry-house, with the 
adjacent woo(!, closed the back ground : on my right, 
the river spread out into the lake of the Two Moun- 
tains, whose blue summits bounded the prospect in 
that direction : on my left was a little church of grey 
stone, stained with moss, and going fas' to tiecay ; 
beyond which, on the opposite shore, lay the mas- 
sive woods of L'lsle Perroi : the river in front of me 
(which is here about three miles over) was spotted 
with numberless rocky islets, beiiind which, the sun, 
sinking in a flood of golden fire, presented, in beauti- 
ful relief, the dark clumps of pine trees, w hich seem- 
ed pencilled out on their summits. A herd of cattle 
at this moment came down to water, and as they loi- 
tered listlessly in the glassy stream, seemed to share, 
with man, in the tranquil feelings of the scene and 
hour. The ferryman's broad straw hat, and light 
canoe, now appeared ; and as we paddled swiflly by 
these many little island-bowers, towards the glowing 
west, fancy may be pardoned for half sketching a 
passage to I he Elysian fields, or enchanted gardens of 
Italian rotnance. The blaze of sun-set had mellowed 
into the purple tints of evening, before we reached 
the opposite shore : I proceeded by moonlight to the 
Cedars, where I procured tea, by knocking up a civil 
landlord, and the next morning went on to " Coteau- 
du-Lac," between which, and Cornwall, runs the 
boundary line of the two provinces. 

After quitting the neighbourhood of Montreal, we 
see little of the French Canadian ; he is succeeded 
by settlers of a character very different ; and with 
whom he is generally placed in humiliating contrast. 
He gains little by travellers ; few enter his cottage, 
or inquisitively scan the character of an ignorant and 



MONTREAL TO THE BOUIfDARY. 93 

superstitious race, who aspire to little more than to 
walk in ihe steps of their priests, and torefaihers. 
Certainly, if intellectual power be the sole measure of 
human merit, (heir's lies in little compass. — Ignorant 
they unquestionably are, though I doubt v\hether 
Ihey have a right to such extreme pre-emmence in 
this respect, as Englishmen are usually liberal enough 
to assign them. Schools are common through the 
Province, and the number of colleges seems propor- 
tioned to the population : the gentry and tradeMnen 
appear not much inferiour in information io ihe coun- 
try gentlemen and tradesmen of wiser nations ; and if 
the share of the peasant's intellect exceeds noi mu« h 
that of the ox he drives, he may claim fellowship in 
this respect, with the peasant of almost every country 
on the globe, except (he United Stales. He is cer- 
tainly superstitious, that is, he believes all his priest 
tells him — no great peculiarity. Let not, however, 
those qualities be overlooked, which give a grace to 
his poverty, sweeten the cup of his privations, and 
almost convert his ignorance into bliss. — Essentially 
a Frenchman, he is gay, courteous and contented: 
If the rigours of a Canadian climate have somewhat 
chilled the overflowing vivacity derived from his pa- 
rent stock, he has still a sufficient portion of good 
spirits and loquacity, to make Ids rulers and neigh- 
bours seem cold and silent : To strangers and travel- 
lers, he is invariably civil, seeming to value their 
good word beyond their money : H2 is reckoned 
parsimonious, because all his gains arise from his sav- 
ings : He is satisfied with the hun)blest fare, and his 
utmost debauch never exceeds a " coup" of rum, and 
pipe of tobacco, taken with a dish of gossip, the only 
luxury in which he can be accounted extravagant. 
The influence of the priests is probably injurious, as 
it affects tnental improvement, beneficial with respect 
to morals. Religion, or rather superstition, and mo- 
rality, are so blended in the mind of the Canadian, 
that were the former shaken, considerable time must 



94 MONTREAL TO THE BOUNDARY. 

elapse before any basis could be raised on which to 
found the latter. At present, great crimes are almost 
unknown, and petty offences are rare ; [ have indeed 
heard the lower classes accused of a propensity to 
pilfer, but I am inclined to think, few instances of 
this kind occur, except from the pressure of extreme 
want. The late war, by calling out a considerable 
proportion of the population to serve in the militia, 
has produced an cTident change in the manners of 
the youug men : I always found two invariable symp- 
toms of a jnan's having served ; a little more intelli- 
gence, and a great deal more knavery. But if the 
war did^iot mend their morals, it certainly raised 
their character : They exhibited a high degree of 
courage in the field, and an affectionate zeal towards 
their governo r, whom they believed their friend: 
a striking instance of this occurred early in the war. 
While Sir George Prevost was at Montreal, a body 
of several hnncred peasants, from the remotest set- 
tlements of the province, came to wait on him ; each 
man was armed with whatever weapon he could pro- 
cure on the spur of the occasion, and all were cloath- 
ed and provisioned for immediate service : An old 
man, who had been a soldier in the revolutionary 
war, was at their head, who thus addressed Sir 
George : " My general, we heard you were in diffi- 
culty, and have marched to your assistance ; I have 
served myself, and though an old man, do not think I 
am quite incapable of duty." — Sir George, strongly 
affected with this instance of attachment, accepted 
their services, and they acted as a separate body 
during the whole of the campaign. 

The Canadians bear a considerable antipathy to 
the Americans, whom they denominate, " Sacres 
Bastonnais.''* I believe it to arise principally from 
religious prejudices ; in proof of which, there is a 
striking anecdote related in the life of Franklin, who 

* BostoDese. lahabitaQte of Boston. 



MOKTREAL TO THE BOUKDART. 95 

made an attempt to bring them over to the revolu- 
tionary cause. At this daj, even the better inform- 
ed among them are fully persuaded that the Ameri- 
can government is constantly plotting their ruin, and 
the destruction of the mighty city of Quebec. I 
was witness to a curious exemplification of this feel- 
ing : A young Canadian, by no means illiterate, in- 
formed me one morning, with a very grave face, that 
a tremendous plot had been discovered — to destroy 
the whole city by blowing up the powder magazine ; 
that a train had been found ready laid, and no 
doubt existed of an American's being at the end of 
it. I took the trouble to trace the source of this re- 
port, and found it to originate in an order to mend a 
broken door belonging to the magazine. A fire never 
happens in the town, (and they happen very often,) 
but the " Bastonnais'^ are the incendiaries. — Petty 
quarrels betwixt the natives and the Vermontese keep 
this feeling alive ; and the English may well say of it, 
in the words of Sir Lucius O'Trigger, " 'Tis a pret- 
ty quarrel as it is, and explanation would spoil it." 



I 

L 96 ] 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

UPPER CANADA. 



August 8th, 
9th, 


Cornwall, 

Millerochea, 

Williamsburg, 

Prt-scott, 

Brockville, 


Miles. 
40 Batteau. 
b \2 
21 

19 Stage. 
14 Waggon 


10th, 
nth, 


Gananoqua, ) 
Kingston, \ 


36 Boat. 



135 1-2 



'Xrs a sad wasfe of life to ascend the St. Lawrence 
in a batteau. After admiring the exertions with 
which the Canadian boatmen, who seem to have ex- 
clusive possession of this employment, force their 
long flal-bottomed barks against the rapids, there is 
nothing left but to gaze listlessly on the descending 
current, and its low wooded shores ; while the mono- 
tony of the oar-stroke is scatxely broken by the oc- 
casional rustling of a wild duck through the sedge, or 
cry of the American king-fisher, as he darts from 
some hanging bough on his scaly prey. It cost us 
15 hours to row from Coteau-du-Lac to Cornwall, 
with but one incident during the voyage ; this was a 
purchase, or rather barter, of biscuit for dried eels, 
with a party of half-naked Indians, whom we found 
idly occupied, under a clump of trees on the shore, 
in curing the produce of their fishery. Several of 
their birch canoes were anchored among the islands, 
or glancing along the stream, as we passed the neigh- 
bourhood of St. Regis, where the Oswegatchies have 
a settlement. 

A stage-waggon runs from Montreal to Prescott, 
and carries the mail, which is afterwards conveyed 
on horseback to Kingston ; I took it at Cornwall, and 
can answer for its being one of the roughest convey- 
ances on either side the Atlantick. 



UPPER CANADA. 97 

The face of the country is invariably flat ; and, (as 
in Lower Canada,) settlements have not spread far 
from the river, and main road, whicli rollovvs its hanks. 
There is, however, an evident difference betwixt the 
two provinces, as to the niO'Je of settlin<2;. The 
system of farming; is here altoj^ether E isriish, or Ame- 
rican. The h)w, deep-roofed Canadian dwelling, 
gives place to (he English farm-house, or Yankey fir- 
boarded mansion, with a dozen sash windows in its 
front. Instead of churches we have taverns ; gaols, 
and assembly-rooms for convents ; and a half sulky 
nod for a French bow. Two Canadian postillions 
never meet without touching their hats ; the Portu- 
guese peasantry are equally ceremonious ; when the 
American or Englishman nods, 'tis like the growling 
salutation of a mastiff, who has not quite leisure enough 
to turn and quarrel with you. 

The picturesque is but scantily spread through 
this tract of country ; occasionally, however, on 
emerging from a dark clump of pines, or hickory 
wood, the eye dwells with pleasure on the course 
of the river, broken with wooded islands, and 
foaming over a thousand rocks.* The chirp of the 
locust, the continual tapping of the redheaded wood- 
pecker, (picus erythrocephaliis,) and the light bound 
of the squirrel, as he traverses the newly erected 
fences, are sights and sounds which enliven, what, 
as far as regards the features of the country, may 
be called a somewhat heavy journey. Prescott is 
remarkable fof nothing but a square redoubt, or fort, 
called Fort Wellington. As a military traveller, I 
should observe, there is a small fort at Coteau-du- 
Lac, through the works of which a lock has been 
cut, to avoid a dangerous rapid. — I found the ac- 
comodations at Prescott so bad, that I seated my- 
self at midnight in a light waggon, in which two gen- 

* There is a mill and small village, within a few miles of 
Cornwall, named " Milleroches," from the adjacent rapids. 

13 



9U UPPER CANADA. 

tiemen were going lo Brockville, and was thus so far 
jumbled into iheir acquaintance, (hat (hej politely 
offered me a passage to Kingston, in a boat belonging 
lo tlie navy, which was wailing tor them at Brock- 
ville. I am always unlucky on the water, whether 
it be in crossing the ocean, or a duck pond : The 
wind proved contrary, and our heavy boat pulled 
slowly against the current ; it was, however, not so 
bad as the batteau voyage : 1 had the advantage of 
agreeable co;np:iny, and a good provision basket, the 
conlenis of which were spread, towards noon, on a 
granite table, near the shore; a ketlle was boiled at 
an adjacent cottage, and an excellent breakfast ar- 
ranged, " sub tegniinefagri.^' Occasional repetitions 
of this ceremony tended evidently to relieve the te- 
dium of the journey, which lasted tilt the evening of 
the day after our embarkation. 

The river banks, from the neighbourhood of Brock- 
ville,- are of limestone, from 20 to 50 feet in height, 
and evidently grooved, or hollowed, by the tides of 
former ages. Immense masses of reddish granite are 
scattered along the bed of the stream, and some- 
times project bare and bold from (he shore. On 
one of these projections there is a blockhouse, form- 
ing a proininent object at a considerable distance. 
The islands which crowd the approitch to Lake On- 
tario, called, from their number, 1000 isles, have all 
a granite basis, but are cloathed with cedar, pine, 
and abundance of raspberries ; The bed of the Ga- 
nanoqua is also of granite, and the lofty banks of the 
Kingston river, near the mills, are of the same rock, 
which probablv crosses the country near the beads 
of the Oswegatchie, Muskinsons, Juniatta, and Ap- 
palusia rivers (the latter of which has a fall of 150 
feet,) till it strikes, by Lake Champlain, the ridge of 
the Belceil mountaiifc. The Gananoqua is rising 
into importance, from the circumstance of a new 
settlement being formed, under the auspices of go- 
vernment, on the waterSj with which it communi- 
cates. 



1 



UPPER CANADA. 



yt< 



This sefllement lies on the bead lakes of the Ri- 
deau, and is meant lo secure a coininunicalion be- 
twixt Monfreal and Kingslon, by way of Ihe (Jttawa, 
in case of anofher war : 'I'he settlers are chiefly 
disbanded soldieis, who clear and cujiivale under the 
superintendance «)f otfirers of the quarter-master-ge- 
neral's department. Each man draws rations for 
himself and family, Ihe expense of which is about 
five shillings per ralion, so tijat it may be juslly call- 
ed a holhouse setilement. A canal has been cut to 
avoid (he fails of Ihe Rideau, and the communica- 
tion, either by (he Gananoqua, or Kingston, will be 
improved by locks. Kingston is singularly ba|)py 
in i(s site, tor naval purposes; it consists of three 
parts, disposed thus : — 




lOt) UPPER CANADA. 

The basis of the soil is a co^nplete quarry of lime- 
stone, disposed in horizontal strata, on the surface of 
the earth, and requiring only to be raised with 
a lever, fo be fit for use. The fort, which was 
merely a field work during the war, is now finishing 
with slone dug (roin its own foundation ; and, having 
two stout M irtello lowers, already looks formidable 
from the lake : it is meant chiefly to defend the navy- 
yard, which il commands. There are batteries on 
Point Fiederick; and on the point of the town, 
which is pallisaded, and strengthened with block- 
houses. It contains some good houses, and stores; 
a small theatre, built by the military for private thea- 
tricals ; a large wooden Government-house, and all 
the appendages of an extensive military, and naval 
establishment, with as much society as can reasona- 
bly be expected, in a town so lately created from 
the " howling desert." The adjacent country is 
flat, stony, and barren ; a circumstance which per- 
haps increases the kind of interest pectdiar to the 
place : do you approach it by land ? The road lies 
through a tract of forest, in the midst of which the 
first rude traces of population are scarcely visible : 
do you come by water? Uncultivated islands, and an 
uninterrupted line of wooded shore, seem conduct- 
ing you to the heart of a wilderness, known only to 
the hunter, and his prey : you emerge from a wood, 
double a headland, and a fleet of ships lies before 
you, several of which are as large as any on the 
ocean: others, of equal dimensions, are building on 
the spot, where, a few months since, their frame- 
timbers were growing. Two sources of astonish- 
ment here rise in the mind : first, the magnitude of 
the resources called into action ; secondly, the ob- 
ject which called them forth. Of the first, some 
idea may be formed, by considering that the St. 
Lawrence alone cost 300,000/. The Psyche fri- 
gate, sent from England in frame, cost 12,000/. in 
transporting from Quebec. The Commissariat dis- 



UPPER CANABA. 101 

bursements af Kingston, during; the war, were esli- 
maled a( 1000/. per diem. The present expense 
of the naval eslablishment is about 25,000/. per an- 
num : Ihe navj'-yard employs 1*200 labourers.* For 
the object, on one side, there is America, with 
*' millions on millions" of acres beyond what her po- 
ptdation can fill up, on Ihe other, England, conlend- 
insj for, and expending her best blood and treasure 
in defence of, a country, one half of which is little 
better than a barren waste of snows, and the other, 
a wild forest, scarcely intersected by a thread of 
population. This is the "gros jew" of society. 

* Considerable reductions have lately taken place in the 
whole establishment. 



[ 102 ] 



CHAPTER XIX. 



KINGSTON TO THE BAY OF QUINTE 



Ernest Town . . 18 Miles. 

Adolplius Town . . 14 

Lake of tlic Mountain . 2 



34 



This is the most interesting excursion in the neigh- 
bourhood of Kingston. Adolphns Town is pleasant- 
ly situated on \he neck of (he bay. lis farms are 
thriving, and cullivaiion is pushing rapidly through 
the forests, round (he numerous streams and bays, 
which water every part of the adjacent country. 
After crossing the ferry, two miles beyond Adol- 
phus Town, I ascended a limestone cliff, to the 
Lake of the Mountain, immedialely on its verge : 
recent measurements have fixed i(s heigli( at iT/i 
feet : the lake may be a mile in circumference, and 
abounds in fish : it formerly discharged itself into 
the river by a perpendicular fall from (he summit 
of (he cliff: (he channel of the cascade still remains, 
but (he stream is more profitably, (hough less taste- 
fully, employed in working a mill. From this Ta- 
ble Land the eye commands a lovely prospect, 
along (he kregular shores of (he bay, in(o which (he 
river Nappanee, and a variety of streams, empty 
themselves, through a rich country, (he dark mas- 
siveness of whose fores(s is already considera4)Iy 
broken, and relieved by settlements and corn-fields. 
Wheat harvest was just now (August IGth) begin- 
ning in this neighbourhood, and generally through 



KINGSTON TO THE BAT OP qUINTE. 103 

Upper Canada. Excepting (he river Nappanee, on 
which (he Mohawks have a se(llefnen(, all (lie names 
round this bay are n-jiht lojal, or loya!, fioni Ernest 
Town, to Adolphus Town, Prince Edward's Bay, 
Sophiasherg, Marysberg, and Ameliahberg, on (he 
furthest neck of land at its heid. This happy 
choice, if the inhabitants had any thing to do with 
it, speaks well for their politicks. Their morals are 
no less refined, bring, to judge from their names of 
things, modelled on the Platonick system. I re- 
quested the fair Maritornes of the inn at Adolphus 
Town, to feed my horse, while I vvalk^^d through the 
village. " But is he ugly ?" said she ; " handsome 
enough to be fed," f answered ; not then compre- 
hending, that in the language of the country, she 
elegantly alluded to liis moral cpialities, of which 
alone beauty, or deformity may be truly predi- 
cated. 

The road from Einest Town . to Kingston runs, 
for the most part, through forest ; but the heaviness 
of the scenery is frequently relieved by the course 
of some quiet creek, descenrling betwixt its rocky 
banks to the lake, which gleams at intervals through 
the trees. The summer stillness of the landscape 
seemed forcibly to contrast itself with the sights 
and sounds of war, which had so lately prevailed 
there; and, as tlie inhabitants declare, had frighten- 
ed all the deer and wolves back to Lake Huron : 
certain it is, they have lately become very scarce, 
80 the fact is poetically credible. 

Ontario's ample brr;a^t is Ktiil, 
And silence walk^ ttie distant fiiil; 
Aih! summer tjarks are gfntly gliding. 
Where lately yondir vvar-tovv* rs r.ding 
Seera'd, like leviathans, to load 
The bosom of the groaning flood. 
Oft as grey dawn broke o'er the wave, 
Each hostile line stern greeting gave, 
And oft, beneath thf 'etting sun, 
Responsive peai'd each heavy gun. 



104 KINGSTON TO THE BAY OP QUINTS* 

Then croiich'd the midnight ambuscade, 

W chin the pine-wood's pillar'd shade, 

Aiii Indian war-notes fiercely rose, 

A death-dirge to unwary foes, 

As burst their murdering attack 

Upon the drowsy Bivouack. 

Round leagiired fort, and post, and ford, 

The cra<iiin; sitell and cannon roar'd, 

Till rung th" alarum of the fray, 

From old Toronto's* quiet bay. 

To wh'^re Niagara madly pours -, 

His L)oiling tide 'twixt mountain shores : — • 

The pagle. whose broad wing was spread 

Above the cataract's wild bed, 

Scar'd by unwonted thunders, rose 

To hang the nest of his repose, 

Where cedars desolately wave 

O'er Naniboja's island-grave :t 

No wolf his moon-light hunt pursued, 

By Erie's forest solHude. 

But cowering from his covert ran, 

Dreading the lordlier chase of man ; 

Nor dar'd th' unhunted stag remain 

Near his lov'd haunts, and green demesne, 

But far from sounds of human slaughter. 

He strays by Huron's distant water. 

* The Indian name for York, where formerly was an Indian 
town, 

f One of the Manitoulin islands. For the story, vid. Hen- 
ry's Travels in Caaada, in 1760 and 1776, p. 168. 



[ 105 ] 



CHAPTER XX. 



WESTERN COUNTRY OP NEW YORK. 



August 31st, Sackett's Harbour, 
Sept. 1st, Watertown, 
2d, Denmark, 

Martiusberg, 
3d, Turin, 

Leyden, 

Steiibeo, 

Trenton, ) 

Utica, ^ 
5th, New Hartford, 

Vernon, 

Chenango, 

ManUiis, 

Jamesville, 

Onoiidago Hollow, 

Marcellus, 

Skaneactas, 
6th. Auburn, 

Aurelius, 

Cayuga, 

Geneva, 

Cnnandaigua, 
7th, Burning Spring 
Rochester, 
8th, & 9th, Lewistown, by the ) 

Bridge road, ) 



36 Miles. Packet. 
10 Waggon. 
17 
14 
9 
19 
17 

13 

4 

M 

17 
6 
5 
5 

10 

6 

8 

4 

5 
13 
16 Stage, 

9 
30 .Jersey waggon. 

80 Stage. 
364 



Sagkett's harbour has a mean appearance after 
Kingston ; its situation is low, the harbour small, and 
fortifications of very inditferent construction, both 
as to form and materials. The navy-yard consists 
merely of a narrow tongue of land, the point of 
which affords just space sufficient for the construc- 
14 



106 WESTERJf eOUiVTRT OF JiEW YORK. 

(ion of one first-rate vessel, with barelv room for 
workshops, and stores, on the remaining part of it. 
One of the largest vessels in the work! is now on 
Ihe stocks here; her dimensions are li^ti tee I keel, 
by 57 beam ; she is built over, to preserve her, and 
may literally be said to be housed : there is an ob- 
servatory on the top of the building, commanding an 
extensive view of the lake, and tlat wooded country. 
About a mile up the river, there is another vessel 
of equal dimensions, built, and housed, literally in 
the woods. The town consists of a long street, in 
the direction of the river, with a few smaller ones, 
crossing it at right angles: it covers less ground than 
Kingston, and has fewer good houses ; it has, how- 
ever, the advantage of a broad flagged footway, 
while the good people of Kingston, intwithstanding 
the thousands expended in their to^\n, and the quar- 
ries beneath their t'eet, submit to walk ancle deep in 
mud, after every shower. Whence this difference ? 
The people of Kingston are not poor, ignorant, 
French Canadians, but substantial, active, Scotch or 
English traders. Probably it lies in this, that the 
Americans are at home, while the English Canadian 
considers himself as a temporary resident, for the 
purpose of making a fortune to spend in his native 
country. 

The fortifications at Sackett's are so inconsidera- 
ble, that one is equally surprisetl that the American 
government shouUI have let't their naval depot so 
inadequately protected, and that our army should 
Lave failed to take it. An Afuerican naval oflBcer, 
who obligingly showed us through the navy yard, 
relateii by what singular accident the place was 
saved from Sir George Prevost's attack; an anec- 
dote I have since heard confirmed, from a variety of 
sources. The garrison consisted almost entirely of 
militia, under General Brown, and ran away on 
the first cannonade, leaving a few artillery-men in 
the fort, who were preparing to abandon it ; the 



WESTERN eOUNTRy OF NEW YORK. 107 

buildings of (he navy -yard were already on fire. 
Tlie i;efieral liavinjj; in vain alleinpled lo stop his 
panick-shuck. soldiers, crossed their tlighl, a( Ihe end 
of Uie street lea<linc; towards Brown ville, declaring, 
that il" (hey woidd run, tliey should not run towards 
home, and so (urnetl them olF to the Oswego road, 
which rjins oblifjuely in (he direcdon of (he right 
flank of (he British forces, as they had landed from 
Hocse island. The la((er perceiving a considerable 
for<;e moving rapidly in (his direction, concluded 
they had been falsely informed of the strength of the 
American force, and actually gave up Ihe attack, 
through fear of being cut off by the runaways. On 
such contingences depend Ihe laurels of war. 

The Government of the United Stales not only 
preaches, but practises economy. The establish- 
menls at Sackett's are on the most moderate scale. 
Two regiments of Ihe line, with a proportion of ar- 
tillery, for garrison duty, 80 men in the navy-yard, 
and one boat, the Lady of the Lake, in commission : 
what dreadfiU havork would this parsimonious go- 
vernment make at Kingston !* 

The road from Sackett's to Watertown Forks, at 
about three miles from the former, leads on the left 
to Brownville, a thriving little village, on the banks 
of Ihe Black river, about five miles from its mouth. 
1( is named from general Brown, whose property 
and residence are here. This gentleman was one 
of the few fortunate American generals in the late 
war. He was not bred a military man, but suc- 
ceeded, from Ihe command of the militia of Ihe dis- 
trict, to the command of the frontier army ; I be- 
lieve, chiefly, because the United States government 
had no regular general al hand, to lake the situation. 
He is a plain, shrewd man, and carried this charac- 

* There were in commission, wlicu I was there, the Regent 
74, Montreal, and Mar, sloops of war, and Charville, a large, 
new transport, t)iii!t since the war, capable of transporting the 
persons and property of almost all the lake populatioB. 



108 WESTERN COUIfTRT OF NEW YORK. 

ter into his militar/ operations. He has a!?o the 
merit of having never unnecessarily aggravated the 
calamities of war. 

From Brownviile there is a new road opened, 
■across the head of Chaumonl's bay to Gravelly 
Point, opposite Wolfe's island, (about fourteen 
miles.) 

From Gravelly Point there is a ferry of a mile, to 
the island, and another, of three, from thence to 
Kingston. I took this route, in company with a 
friend, to escape a tedious passage in the packet ; 
and happening to land on Wolfe's island, nearly at 
sun-set, we bad to walk, or rather wade across it, 
(for 'tis wood and bog tVorn beginning to end, about 
seven miles,) in the dark ; a jaunt I would recom- 
mend no one to repeat, without good reason, at the 
same hour. This new road seems intended to open 
the Kingston market to the produce of the fertile 
country of the Black river. At present a few log- 
huts, and patches of burnt timber, are the only marks 
cultivation has set on this tract of country. We 
passed two or three sportsmen, sitting by the road- 
side, with their rifles, watching for deer. Water- 
town is an elegant village,* on the Black river, about 
four miles above Brownville. The basis of the soil 
is limestone; abroad rock of which, several acres 
in extent, divides the river, just at the town; the 
right branch, after breaking into several smaller falls, 
precipitates itself about 30 feet, and continues its 
course down a craggy valley ; a paper mill stands 
on the left branch, which descends more gradually. 
Large masses of rock strew the banks below, as if 
severed from above by the action of floods and 
rains ; several cedar trees have been left so near the 
edge, that they have bent down for want of suppoit, 
and continue clinging, with their roots uppermost. 

* The Americans, at least the Yaokies, call their towns. 
Tillages ; applying the ternit towoi to what we call a township. 



WESTERN COUNTRY OF NEW YORK. 109 

A youth, belonging to the village, conducted me 
under the banks, towards the mill, and lesser fall, 
to an amphilhealrical range of naluial sleps, or 
benches in the rock, with a tlat ceiling of limestone, 
about fifteen feet in breadth ; the whole of it abound- 
ing in shells. 

On the island are numerous fossil impressions of 
fish, seemingly of the eel kind, with the spines in 
perfect preservation. Higher up the river is a 
large cotton mill, beyond which, the banks on both 
sides continue to rise boldly, thickly cloalhed with 
maple, beech, and elm, whose deep shade, waving 
over the narrow stream, may probably have given it 
its name. Watertown contains about 1200 inhabit- 
ants, chiefly ecuigrants from New England. IMie 
houses are generally of wood, but tastefully finished : 
brick, however, is coming fast into use ; and begins 
every wheie to prevail, as soon as experience has 
pronounced the soil, or situation of a townsliip to be 
capable of any considerable improvement. 

Here is a good tavern, which, besides the acci- 
dental advantage of coming after the VVappuig inns 
of Sackett's, atforded us the rare luxuiy ot a pri- 
vate sitting-room, and a dinner at an English, (hat 
is, at our own hour. We found the church-yard 
worth a walk, not for the elegance of its monuments, 
or classick beauty of the epitaphs, but for its pleas- 
ing site, on a rising ground beyond the village, com- 
manding an interesting view of the falls and course of 
the river. It is, moreover, neatly kept ; a mark of 
respect to its silent tenants, too frequently neglected 
in the States. Within a few miles of Watertown 
the country rises boldly, presenting a refreshing 
contrast of hill and valley, to the flat, heavy woods, 
through which we had been labouring fiom Sacketi's. 
The road, turning near Denmark, ascends the val- 
ley of the Black River by its left bank. The banks 
on either side are lofty, presenting, on the opposite 
shore, unbroken and majestick masses of forest : on 



no WESTERN COUNTRY OF NEW YORK. 

the western side the soil is goo(J, and coming rapidly 
into ciillivation. A few pine-barrens occasionally 
intervene, upon sand mixed with blocks of talkous 
granite, rounded, and scattered down the water- 
courses. 

Indian corn seems the staple grain, as it generally 
is, on lands newly cleared, but almost the whole of 
(his year's crop has been destroyed by July and 
August frosts. On the 28th of August there wag 
ice at Kingston Mills, -J^ of an inch in tliickness, 
and this inclemency was general, as far as Carolina. 
Here and there, I observed fields that had escap- 
ed ; and sometimes a small portion of a field would 
be untouched, while the remainder was as brown, as 
if scorched by fire. On examining these exceptions 
more narrowly, I was induced to believe, they were 
all indebted, for their escape, to a situation more 
or less protected from the N. E. winds, which by 
sweeping over deserts of ice, and forest, from the 
pole, beco:ne the chief agents of cold through the 
whole continent. The inhabitants, indeed, seemed 
more inclined to ascribe these escapes to the proxi- 
mity of streams, which had mitigated the frost; but 
frequently the bottom of a field had sutfered, while 
the slope escaped: A valley crop was sometimes cut 
off, and a hill-crop uninjured. Betwixt Sackefl's 
and Watertown, I observed several fields sloping 
to the road, (that is facing nearly south,) with a 
broad belt of timber, on the crest of the hills be- 
hind them, perfectly green and flourishing, while the 
whole valley, fro n Mirtinsberg to Utica, down 
which the road forms a N. W. funnel, or wind 
course, was blighted, except where occasional angles, 
or returns, afforded a partial shelter. If these ob- 
servations should be correct, it would seem no in- 
judicious precaution, in clearing lands, to leave a 
sulTicient belt of limber to shut out the winds most 
likely to prove fatal ; that is, the N. E. and N. W. 



W^ESTERN COUNTRY OP NEW YORK. Ill 

from which quarters unseasonable frosts may always 
be expected. 

Utica stands on (he right bank of the Mohawk, 
over which it is approached by a covered wooden 
bridge, of some length. The appearance of the 
town is highly prepossessing: the streets are spa- 
cious; the houses large and well-built, and the stores 
(the name given to shops throughout America)* as 
well supplied, and as handsomely filled up, as those 
of New York or Philadelphia. f There are two ho- 
tels, on a large scale ; for one of which, (he York 
House, I can answer, as being equal in arrangement 
and accommodation, to any hotel beyond the Atlan- 
tick ; it is kept by an Englishman from Bath. The 
number of inhabitants is reckoned at from 3 to 4000 ; 
they maintain four churches — one Episcopal, one 
Presbyterian, and two Welch. To judge from (he 
contents of three large book-stores, their literary 
taste inclines chiefly towards theology and church 
history. I encountered but one effusion of native 
genius, in the shape of two verses, under three 
grim faces, painted on a tobacconist's sign-board, as 
k follows : — 

*• We three are engag'd in one cause ; 
" I snufi's, 1 siuokes, and I cliaws." 

The town is laid out upon a very extensive scale, 
of which a small part only is yet completed ; but 
little doubt is entertained by the inhabilants, that 
ten years will accomplish the whole. Fifteen have 
not pasi since the traveller found here no other trace 
of habitation than a solitary log-house, built for the 
occasional reception of merchandise, on i(s way down 

''' May not this term be traced to the ship stores of the 
early colonists ? 

f I should compare them with our second class of liondon 
thops, some may even rank with the first. 



112 WESTEKX COINTRT OF NEW YORK. 

the Mohawk. The overflowing population of New- 
Eiiiliintl, Oxing its exertions on a new, and ferile 
soil, ha;*, in these few years, etfected this change, 
and 2oes on, working the miracles of industry and 
freeilorn, troin the Mohawk to the Missouri. 

Utira lias ^reat advantages of situation, indepen- 
dent of its soil, being; placed nearly at the point of 
junction betwixt the waters of the Lakes and of the 
Atlanfick. The Mohawk communicates with Wood 
Creek, by a canal, from Rome, tit'teen miles north 
of Utica ; and Wood Creek falls into the Oneida 
Lake, which is joined to that of Ontario, by the 
0?wego river. Should the proposed canal betwixt 
Biiffiilo and Rome be cut, it will add very considera- 
bly to these advantages, by drawing much of the 
produce of the Western country in this direction. 
The expense of this undertaking is variously esti- 
mated at from 6 to 10,000,000 dollars ; and the 
expense of carriage at about sis dollars per ton. 
Commissioners have been appointed to survey the 
line of communication, and the canal is already traced 
CD paper. As far, however, as I could understand, 
the route of the St. Lawrence would be preferred, 
should the policj' of our Government incline to give 
their commerce ingress and egress on moderate 
terms. 

AVith Utica commences that succession of flour- 
ishing villages, and settlements, which renders this 
tract of country the astonishment of travellers. That 
so large a portion of the soil should, on an average 
period of less than twenty years, be cleared, brought 
into cultivation, and have a large population settled 
on if, is in itself sufficiently surprising ; but this 
feeling is considerably increased, when we consider 
the character of elegant opulence with which it 
every where smiles on the eye. Each village teems, 
like a hive, with activity and enjoyment: the houses, 
taken in the mass, are on a large scale, for (except- 
ing the few primitive log-huts still surviving) there is 



WESTERN COUNTRY OF NEW YORK. 113 

scarcely, one, below Ihe appearance of an opulent 
Loiiiioii hailesman's counlry box; nor is their sljle 
ot" building very unlike tliese, being generally of 
wooil, p;iinted while, wiih green doors anil shufleis, 
anil porclies, or verandas in fronf. The face of the 
couniry is beautifully varied ; on the left of the 
road, lofty ridges di\ide llie Lake streams from the 
head waters of the Chenango, an(l Oriskany r>vers ; 
and again, shooting up towards the north, form the 
steep banks of the Canserage Creek, and Ihe wooded 
heights, which e/nitosom Onondago Hollow. The 
shores of the small lakes are picturesquely formed 
in the same manner, and a succession of rioges is 
thus continued, till they terminate towards Ijake 
Ontario, in the Niagara heights, and mingle, on the 
south, with the spurs of the Aileganies, round the 
sources of the Susquehannah. The timber of this 
country is mostly oak, elm, ash, maple, hickory, bass, 
henilock, and buiteinut. 

Betwixt Onondago and Skaneactas, our stage- 
party, which had consisted of several honest farm- 
ers, received an addition, in the person of a little 
man in grey, who might have well passed for what 
he was, a barber, had he not, early in (he drive, be- 
gun to 6gure in the character of an apostle; first of 
all, by pertinent remarks on the efficacy of the in- 
ward light ; and secondly, by objurgating the coach- 
man for his prophane language, who revenged him- 
self, not only by sulky expressions of disbelief in the 
apostolick rights of his reprover, but infinitely more 
to our mortification, by considerably slackening his 
pace, as if to atford full leisure for our regeneration. 
To console us under this misfortune, and as we now 
began to ascend a rather long hill, the barber, taking 
off his hat, and turning his face to us, said ; " Gen- 
tlemen, if you have no objection " I'll sing you a 
hymn ; I have not a good voice for it, but the 
hymn is a very fine one, and will shorten the hill.'* 
He began accordingly, and soon induced us to as- 

1.3 



1 14 WESTKRJf COrNTRY OF NEW YORK. 

sent unaniinoiisly to the first part of his propositioD, 
relative to his voice; the seioml seemed by no 
means eqiially convinrins: ; a»id ihe third v^as alto- 
gether so dubious, that «e determined, on any simi- 
lar occasion, to try whetiier a hill would not be bet- 
ter shot tened by waking, than singing, up it. He 
had visited the rhief io»vn of the Oiiondago In- 
dians, in this neiglibourhood, and described them as 
extremely reserved, averse to communication with 
strangers, and closely addicted to their old forms of 
worship. '' They would neither receive a preacher," 
Ije said, '* nor drink spirits;'' facts, which he seem- 
ed to consider equally indicative of hardened idola- 
try. 

Mr. Jefferson, in his Notes, quoting different enu- 
merations of the Indian tribes, gives the last esti- 
mate, (from Dodge, in l7ri.>.) of the Onondagoes at 
230. This is much below what they are at present 
reckoned at,^ in this part of the country. 

Skaneactas is pleasantly situated at the head of 
the lake from which it is named. We stopped here 
for the night, and admired, by a clear moon, the 
sloping banks, descending with alternate promonto- 
ries of wood, and cultivated land, to its smooth sil- 
Tery waters, whilst here and there rose the tall mast 
of some trading schooner, anchorinii under the shore. 

Cayuga, besides its agreeable site, is remarkable 
for a bridge over the head of the Cayuga lake, a 
mile in lengih : it is built on piles, and level ; calcu- 
latini; fron the time it took to pass it, I shouM think 
it rather over-rated at a mile ; three-fourths is proba- 
bly about the true lengih. Betwixt Cayuga and Ge- 
neva, is the flourishing little village of A^'aterloo, 
born and christened since Ihe battle. Geneva con- 
tains many elegant houses, beautifully placed on the 
rising shore, at Ihe head of the Geneva lake ; a silua- 

* I hare heard the Onoudagoes esiituated at 1000. 



WESTERN COUNTRY OK NEW VORK. lit 

tion indicaling (hut the name wi\^ not bestowed at 
raiulotr. 

From Geneva to Canandaigiia, a tract of hill and 
vale extends Tor IG miles, wiih only (wo houses. I 
neglected to observe acciirately, or enqniie whether 
Ihe soil nas of inlciinui' (jualil} : sluiuUl this not be 
<he case, (his nolo would aH'ord a traveller of Wi'lG, 
an exact mean of estimating (he ^rowlh of its im- 
provement in 10 years. Canandaigiia is a town of 
villas, built on (he rising shore of (he Canandaigna 
lake, which (ermina(es (he pic(ure, at Ihe bottom of 
the main street : (he lower par( of (his s(ree( is occu- 
pied by s(ores and waiehoiises, but (he upper, (o 
the length of nearly (wo miles, consis(s of villa?, or 
ornamen(ed cottages, tastefully hnished with colon- 
nades, porches, and verandas, each wilhin ils own 
garden, or pleasure ground. The prospect down 
this long vista to (he lake, is charming ; if it has a 
defect, not to the eye, but to the mind, it arises from 
a consideration of Ihe perishable materials wilh which 
these elegant l>uilding3 are constructed, impressing 
an idea of instability, like pleasure houses raised for 
an occasional festival. A fertile soil, and indus(rious 
population, are, however, bases on which brick will 
succeed to wood, and stone to brick. 

From Canandaigna we turned from the main road 
nine miles S. VV. to visit what is calleil " (he burning 
spring," lately di-^covered. This tract of country is 
beautifully undulating, and richly cultivated : I was 
particularly pleased wilh the style of ils clearing, 
being neither encumbered with heavy masses of wood, 
nor, like most newly cleareil (rac(s, stript to naked- 
ness, bu( eshibiling (he rich, yet linht studding of 
timber we so much admire in many English counties. 
Perhaps the ch;inge from a dusty jolling stage to an 
open easy waggon, or Dearborn, as they are called 
in this Slate, ^ disposed us (o regard the landscape 
with more than usual complacency. 

* The body and carriage resemble a small waggon, in which 
a seat is placed for two persons, on wooden springs. Some- 



116 



WESTERN COrXTRT OF NEAV VORK. 



Turning a little fiom the road, we entered a small, 
but thick wood of pine and maple, enclosed within a 
narrow ravine, the steep sides of which, composed of 
dark clav-slate, rise to the height of ahout 40 teel. 

Down this glen, wliose width, at its entrance, may 
be about 60 yards, trickles a scanty sireandef, wan- 
dering from side to side, as scattered rocks, or falUn 
trees, afford, or deny it passage. We had advanced 
on its course about 50 yards, when close under the 
rocks of the right bank, we perceived a bright red 
flame, burning briskly on its waters. Pieces of light- 
ed wood being applied to different adjacent spots, a 
space of several yards was immediately in a blaze. 
Being informed by our guide, that a repetition of this 
phenomenon might be seen higher up the glen, we 
scrambled on, for about 100 yards, and directed in 
some degree by a strong smell of sulphur, applied 
our match to several places, with the same effect. 
The rocky banks here approach so closely, as to 
leave litlle more than a course to the stream, whose 
stony channel formed our path : sulphur in several 
places oozed from them abundantly. We advanced 
about 70 yards further, when we found the glen ter- 
minate in a perpendicular rock, about 30 feet high, 
overgrown with moss, and encumbered with fallen 
pine trees, through which the drops, at this dry pe- 
riod of the season, scarcely trickled. These fires, 
we were told, continue burning unceasingly, unless 
extinguished by accident. The phenomenon was 
discovered by the casual rolling of some lighted em- 
bers from the top of the bank, while it was clearing 
for cultivation. In the intensity and duration of the 
flame, it probably exceeds any thing of the kind yet 
discovered : I could, however, find no traces of a 
spring on its whole course : the water on which the 



times ttiere are two seats, one behind the other. They ob- 
tained the name of Dearborn, from the General's taking the 
field m one. 



WESTERN COUNTRY OF NEW YORK. 117 

first fire was burning, had indeed a stagnant appear- 
ance, and probably was so, from (he failure ut" (he 
current ; but it had no peculiar tasle or smell, was of 
the ordinary temperafure, and but a few inches deep ; a 
few bubbles indicated the passage of ihe inflanimableair 
through il : on applying a match to the adjacent parts of 
the dry rock, a momentary flame played alont: it idso. 
These circumstances induced us to consider the bed 
of Ihe streatnlet, as accidentally affording an outlet 
to Ihe inflammable air from below, and the water, as 
in some degree performing the part of a candle-wick, 
by preventing its immediate dispersion into Ihe at- 
mosphere.* I shoidd observe, thai there are con- 
sitlerable sulphur springs nine nules N. W - of Canan- 
daigua ; and it uiay perhajis be worth noticing, Ihiit 
a line drawn through both, would strike, in a S. S. W. 
direction, the warm spring near Huntingdon, in 
Pennsylvania; the Berkely medicinal waters on the 
Potomac, and thence, following the course of the 
raoiuitains, S. W. Ihe hot springs of Bath, and sul- 
phur springs in the Allegany. 

Rochester is built immediately on the great falls of 
the Genesee, about eight miles above its entrance inio 
Lake Ontario. It is four years since the yankey 
axeman began to dispossess the wood nymphs, or ra- 
ther the wolves and bears, of this neighbourhood ; 
and the town now contains 100 good houses, furnish- 
ed with all the conveniences of lite ; several com- 
fortable taverns, a large cotton-mill, and some laige 
corn-mills. Town lots fetch from 500 to 1000 dol- 
lars, and are rising in value rapidly. The whole vil- 
lage is as a summer hive, full of life, bustle, and acti- 
vity. Its site is grand : the Genesee rushes through 
it, like an arrow, over a bed of limestone, and preci- 
pitates itself down three ledges of rock, of 93, SO, 

* \Ir. Jeflferson, in his Notes, p. .'il, describes wliat I ima- 
gine to lie a similar vapour, near ttie junction of the Elk river 
with the great Kauhavra. 



118 WESTERN COUN'TRl OF NEW YORK- 

and 76 feet, within llie distance of a niile and a halt 
from the town : (he two first ledges are of limestone ; 
the basis of the third, as well as the adjacent banks, 
is of the same red clay-slate, which every where 
forms the bed of the St. Lawrence. This lime-stone 
ridge, which cannot but be considered as a continua- 
tion of that of Niagara, crosses the river therefore at 
the second, and then striking in a S. E. direction, di- 
vides the waters of the small lakes from those of 
Oneida and Ontario. The immediate vicinity of 
Rochester is still an unbroken forest, consisting of 
oak, hickory, ash, beech, bass, elm, and walnut : there 
is a black walnut tree betwixt the town and the great 
fall, twenty-four feet in its girlh. The wild tenants 
of these woods have naturally retired before the 
sound of cultivation : there are, however, a few 
wolves and bears slill in the neighbourhood ; one of 
the latter lately seized a pig close to the town. Ra- 
coons, porcupines, sq'iirrels, black and grey, and 
foxes, are still numerous. The hogs have done good 
service in destroying the rattle snakes, which are al- 
ready becoming rare. Pigeons, quails, and blackbirds 
abound. At Rochester, the line of settled country 
in this direction terminates ; from hence to Lewis- 
town are 80 miles of wilderness, but of wilderness big 
with promise. 

The traveller, halting on the verge of these abori- 
ginal shades, is inclined to pause in thought, and re- 
consider the interesting scenes through which he has 
been passing. They are such as reason must ad- 
mire, for they are the result of industry, temperance, 
and freedom, directed by a spirit of sound know ledge, 
flowing through all conditions of men, and giving birth 
to a state of society, in which tlieir is neither pover- 
Xy^ nor oppression, nor complaining. This thought 
pleases, in a world so full of wo and bitterness ; it 
does more, it thrills exultingly through the heart ; and 
yet I fancied something wanting : — it was the mellow 
touching of that great artist Time : — every thing 



WESTERN COUNTRY OF NEW YORK. 119 

wears too much the gloss of newness. — Here are no 
memorials of llie pasi, for llie wliole country is of to- 
day ; five, ten, or at the utmost, twenty years ago, 
where are now corn-fields, towns and villaf;,es, was 
one mass of forest. Certain pains-taking New-En- 
glanders, having discovered the ftrtilily of the soil, 
sat down to clear, (ill, settle, and improve it, and are 
now reaping the just harvest of their labours. — Ima- 
gination folds her wing over such a history, and we 
feel with Moore, 

" No bright remenibranoe o'er the fancy plajs ; 
No classick dream, no star of other days, 
Has left that visionary glory here, 
That relickof its light so soft and dear. 
Which gilds, and hallows e'en the rudest scene, 
The bumblesl shed where genins once has been." 

I renieraber visiting the convent of " Our Lady of 
the Rock," near Cintra in Portugal. It was founded 
by Emanuel, to commemorate the return of Vasco 
de Gama. For three cenluries, Ihe malin hymn bad 
ascended daily from its mountain pinnacle, unn)ixed 
with soimd of earth, when the slep of the invader si- 
lenced and dispersed Ihe ministers of its altar. There 
was one old man left ; he was eighty years of age, and 
had forsaken the world at the period of the great 
earthquake of Lisbon. The effects of a moral con- 
vulsion, more devastating than earthquakes, had 
reached him, after fifty yjears of seclusion. What 
remembrances, what reflections crowded within the 
walls of this little monastery ! My feeble conductor, 
as he glided through the forsaken cloister, in the 
white habit of his order, seemed like an embodied 
spirit of the past, bearing record of the revolutions of 
nature, and of empires. — But to proceed through the 
woods. 

The road from Rochester to Lewistown has ob- 
tained the appellation of the Ridge road, from the cir- 
cumstance of its running, generally, on the secondary 



120 WESTERN COUNTRY OF NEW YORK. 

bank of Like Ontario. This bank is a gravelly 
riJ^e, rjieldorii exceedin;^ I.") feet in heiihl, and is ge- 
net ally iVom five lo eight miles from the present shore. 
Tile piiinitive liiiieslone ridge, forming the Niagara 
and Genesee falls, rims |)arallel to it, but further from 
the shore. Thd dispo-diion of the ground, on the 
Canadian side of tiie St. Lawrence, is exactly simi- 
lar, but has been less spoken of, because inhabited 
bv a less in-piisitive, and speculatin'j; race of people. 
Sixteen miles west of Rochester, there is an Irish 
se!tie'uent, on Sandy Creek ; iron is said to be tbund 
there. The average value of land is from 10 to 15 
dollars an acre, and rises rapidly, as the country set- 
tles. Ois thousand families of settlers crossed Ro- 
chester bridge in 30 days, during the last summer. 

Ttie soil cannot be calleil first rate, being general- 
ly sandy, with a mixture of gravel ; it however pro- 
duces oak ti nber in great ahundance : a tract of 30 or 
40 miles along the ridge road, is called, " Oak 
Orchard." — The average return which the crops 
make on the line of the small lakes, is about 25 for 
one ; in ■>•) n^ instances it exceeds this : a gentleman 
of B .)o ;l'^^^l'^ town, stated the return of part of his 
lands, at 49 for one : in L )wer Canadi it seldofn ex- 
ceeds six or seven. Notwithstanding the bad state 
of the roa I, the stage waggon runs fron Rochester to 
L-^wislown in two ilays : this journey is heavy 
enouj;h ; it is soneti;nes necessary to alight, and walk 
several miles, or suifer a dislocation of limbs, in jolt- 
ing over causewavs, or logged roa Is, formed of pine, 
or oiic trees laid cross ways, without much regard to 
unifor nitv of size, or the co nfort of t^lose who may 
have to travel over them. Oxasionally a wild deer 
starts tro n fhe biink of sore overshadowed creek, 
and, at dlS*erent intervals, square patches seem cut 
out of th * forest, in the centre of which low log-buts 
have been constructed, without aid of saw, or plane, 
and surr'i'inde 1 by stumps of trees, black with the 
fires, kindled for the purpose of clearing. These 



WESTERN COUNTRY OF NEW YORK. 121 

fires are slill Jisually hm ning, in some quarter round 
the lioiise ; so lliat Ihe whole selllemeiit, betwixt the 
remains of former conflagrations, and the vohimes of 
bhje smoke, sfill curlinj; lhro(iii,h the massive woods, 
has a very Cimmerian aspect. While he clears his 
land, the American selrler seldom neglects to make 
potash : two men will tnake a ton of it in a month : its 
average value may be reckoned at LOO dollars: so 
that (he land repays him the value of his labour at 
the outset. The stages meet, and put up for the 
niaht at a log-htif, dignifi«^d with the name of an inn, 
about 40 miles from Rochester. Our accommoda- 
tions were of the lowest, but our charges, of the 
highest rate ; for, as our host sagaciously observed, 
*' were he not to charge high, how was he ever to 
build a better house?" By this rule we were com- 
pelled to contribute to posterity. Lewistown was 
one of (he fioutier villages burnt during the war, to 
rietaliate upon (he Americans for the ileslruction of 
Newark. It has been since rebuilt, and all maiks of 
its devastation effaced. [I is agreeably situated at 
the foot of the Li .lestone Ridge, on the steep bank 
of the St. Lawience, which here rushes with a boil- 
ing, eddying torrent, from the F.dls to Lake Ontario. 
Lewistown, notwithstanding its inlancy, and reaiote 
situation, contains several good stores, to which I was 
obliged to have recourse for some trifling articles, 
during my stay at Q,(ieenston, on the Canadian side; 
partictdarly for a pair of shoes, when I accon)panied 
a friend to get his tea-pot mended ; Q,ueen3ton afioid- 
ing neither tinker, nor shoemaker. 



16 



L 122 ] 
CHAPTER XXI. 

NIAGARA FRONTIER. 
FORT GEORGE TO FORT ERIE. 



QueeustoD ... 7 Milei. f 

Brid^ewater, or Falls of Niagara 7 
Chippewa . . 11-2 

Fort Erie ... 18 

33 12 



FORT GEORGE TO YORK, BY THE OUTLET OF 
BURLINGTON. 

Queenston ... 7 

St. David's . . . 2 

Twelve Mile Creek . 12 

Twenty ditto. . . 8 

Oct. 4, Forty ditto. . . \% 

Stony Creek . n 

The Outlet . 7 

5, Hopkins' Inn . . 5 

Twelve Mile Creek . . 4 

Sixteen ditto. . . 5 

Credit River . . ^ 

Etobico Rijer . . 6 

Mocaco River . . 4 

Humber River . . 2 

York ... 61-2 

97 1-2 



BY ANCASTER AND DUND«. 

Stony Creek to Ancaster 14 

Dmidas ... 4 

Hopkins's Inn . . .10 

Ancaster to the Grand River, and In- 
dian Settlements. . . 13 



/ 



NIAGARA FRONTIER. 123 

1 HE peninsula included generally belwixt the two 
Lakes and the Niagara river, obtained, during the 
war, and slill keeps, flie name of the Niagara Fron- 
tier. The Oiise, or Grand River, the banks ot" which 
are inhabited by the Six Naiions, may be considered 
its western boundary, and Biubnglon Bay its Uiait to 
the north. The Limestone Ritlge, which we have 
observed skirting the road from the Flails of the Ge- 
nesee, crosses the Niagara at Q,neenslon, and, follow- 
ing the direction of the shores of Lake Ontario, as 
far as Ancaster, divides this frontier irregularly, 
nearly from east to west. At Ancaster it turns in the 
direction of the Lake, and having skirted the B ly of 
Burlington with a magnificent amphitheatre, strikes 
eastward, till it has crossed the Hiimber: but whe- 
ther it afterwards proceeds in the direction of Kings- 
ton, or bends northwardly, I am not able to deter- 
mine ; though from distant views, and some other cir- 
cumstances, I am inclined to believe it takes the for- 
mer course. Its height may be averaged geneially 
at from 200 to 250 feet : it is every where very 
steep; in some places nearly perpendicular; and 
when viewed from below, being covered with trees to 
its summit, seems stretched across the country, like 
a magnificent screen of verdure. The whole frontier 
may thus be considered as divided into two plateaux : 
the upper, on a level wilh Lake Erie ; the lower, 
sloping from the foot of the ridge to Lake Ontario. 
There is a marked geological distinction betwixt these 
two tracts. Immediately below Queenslon all traces 
of limestone disappear. The river banks, which are 
here about seventy feet in height, are composed of 
the same red clay-slate which seems generally to con- 
stitute the bed of the St. Lawrence, from hence 
downwards, beyond Quebec. The sides of the dif- 
ferent creeks round the head of the lake, from 
Queenston to York, exhibit similar strata, nor does a 
single limestone rock appear to the eastward of the 
Ridge ; from thence, however, to Lake Erie, it pre- 



124 NIAGARA FRONTIER. 

dominates almosf exclusively, and constitutes the ba- 
sis of a soil, taaioiis tljroti<^h Canada for its fertility. 
The whole of this frontier is «listini;uisiied by a pe- 
culiar mildness of cli;nate. Vohiey observes, (toin. 
i. p. 137.)— 

" A Niagara, hiea au dessiis de Montreal, les neiges 
sont de deux mois encore jtlus court«^6 que dans cette 
ville : ce qui est preciseinent le contraire de la regie gene- 
rale des niveaux ohservee stir le reste de la cole." 

And again, p. 166, he observes the great increase 
of cold fro.n Lake Erie, west ; " so that in the neigh- 
bourhootl of Lake St. Clair, the only fruiis which 
will ripen are apples and winter pears;" whereas at 
Niagara, peaches are raised in such abundance as to 
be the common food for hogs during the autumn ; 
capsicums, melons, and all sorts of gourds, are also 
abundantly raised in the open cround. 

M. Volney is inclined to attribute this difference 
of climate, to the greater or less prevalence of the S. 
and S. W. winds, which, he says, become less fre- 
quent round Lake St. Clair : biit in addition to any 
general reason of this kind, there is a peoidiar circum- 
stance in the loi^ale of this frotttier, which has proba- 
bly a more direct etifect. The N. W. wind, as has 
been already observed, is found to be the great 
agent of cold through nearlv the whole of the Ameri- 
can continent. It seems no less certain that it derives 
its chilling powers from the unbounded tract of fro- 
zen, uncultivated country over which it sweeps. 
Before, hoivever, it arrives at the Niagara frontier, it 
has past diagonally across both Lake Superiour and 
Lake Huron, and must therefore have lost some por- 
tion of its intense coM in its passage. To prove the 
correctness of this observation, it is necessary that 
the ditTerence of cli'nafe should be co-extensive with 
the range of the N. W. wind, under these peculiar 
circumstances ; and this seems to be the case. A 
line drawn N. W. from York, would cross the nar- 
rowest extremity of Lake Huron, and sweep the 



NIAGARA FRONTIER. 125 

shore, instead of rrosslns: the expanse, of Lake Snpe- 
riour : now York is known lo have longer and severer 
winters Ihan the frontier, fhoniih biii sixty niiUs N. 
VV . of if. In like manner, a line drawn N. VV. Iroin 
Lake St. Clair, would fall hejond L;ike Huron, and 
• cross but a small portion of Lake Snpeiiour ; the 
whole country, therefore, from ihis lake west, may 
be expected, as Volnev observes to be jlie cane, to 
feel an unmitigated winter : tl)e favoured poition i\ ing 
betwixt these two points, on boih sities of L-ike 
Eiie.^ Accordingly, a tiecided pieference is gi\tn, 
by settlers, to this ne<ghbonriioo(l : on our side, the 
banks of the Grand River were lotig since chosen by 
the Six Nations for their fertility ; and Iroin (hence to 
the Thames, aiu\ Long Point, are the fuiest farms in 
the province. Ttie wiioie of the American side is 
rapidly settling, and Erie, built on the site of the old 
fort, is already a considerable town. 

The northern point of the frontier, at the junction 
of the Niagaraf with Lake Ontario, is occupied by 
Fort Missisaga, built opposite to the Aojerican Fort, 
Niagara, which it is thought to command : it is star- 
shaped, and intended to be faced with stone, should 
the expense be deemed convenient. From hence to 
Fort George there is about a mile of flat ground, 
mostly occupied by the village of Newark, which 
has in great part been rebuilt. The houses are of 
wood, and being generally placed on frames, without 
foundations, seein to give a stranger no more reason 
to expect to find them standing when he next travels 
that way, than the tents of an Arab, or the booths of 
an annual fair. There is one large inn, of a gay ex- 
terior ; but being commonly crowded with guests, is 
half finished, half furnished, and miserably dirty : 

* It seems probable that the whole of the Genesee country 
shares in this advantage. 

+ The St I-awrence, betwixt the two lakes, is comiuonly 
called the Niagara. 



126 NIA6AUA FRONTIER. 

beds, iiuleeil, are in no more than comfortable abun- 
dance ; it being no easy matter to scjueeze betfvixt 
each two of the dozen, crowded into a room. 

Betwixt Newark and Qiieenston the river is sepa- 
rated from the roaii by a light wood, through which 
it breaks on the siglit at intervals, tVeqiienily with the" 
top-sails of a schooner gliding just above its banks, 
and the tufted woods of the American shore beyond. 
On ihe right there is an unbroken succession of kixii- 
riant orchards, corn-fieUls, and farm-houses ; a rare 
and interesting sight in Canada. Queenston is built 
on the river's edge, at Ihe foot of the heigiits ; it 
was embosomed in peach orchards before the war, 
but they were all felled, to aid our defensive opera- 
tions, so that the vicinity looks bare and war-worn. 
The heights are still crowned by a redoubt, and the 
remains of batteries, raised to defend the passage of 
the river. It was near to one of these, the gallant 
Sir Isaac Brocke was killed on the 13!h of Ociober, 
1812, while with 400 men he gallantly opposed the 
landing of 1500 Americans, the whole of whom were 
afterwards captured by General SheafFe. — But silence 
is now on the hill, and from the crumbling field-work, 
the stranger's eye dwells with admiration on the 
winding course of the Niagara ; the rich adjacent 
country ; the opposite fortresses at its mouth ; the 
blue expanse of Lake Ontario, with the white build- 
ings of York just glimmering on the horizon; and 
beyond them a continuation of the same heights on 
which he stands, fading inilislinctly into the sky. 

At Queenston I commenced a new, and infinitely 
more convenient mode of travelling, viz. in my own 
carriage ; this being a light Jersey waggon, (a ma- 
chine 1 have already described, by the name of 
a DearbortT,) for which I gave at second hand, 130 
dollars ; it was consequently above the million in ap- 
pearance. My steed, a hardy Canadian, bred in the 
neighbourhood, cost me TO dollars ; and with such 



NIAGARA FRONTIKR. 127 

preparation, a man may travel comfortably from Pe- 
nobscot to New Orleans. 

If was a tine autumnal morning, (October 4,) when 
I put my equipaj:i,e in motion iVoin Queenston, towards 
York, accompanied by a friend, and a favourite 
•pointer. The road follows the line of the heights, 
from which it is separated by an open meadow, stud- 
ded with clumps of trees, over many of which the 
wild vine had woven natural bowers, but its graceful 
festooning is all its merit ; for the grapes are small 
and sour. The peculiarity of the Genesee road is 
renewed here, or rather it is the same feature con- 
tinued, and runs along a second bank, about twenty 
feet high, which follows generally the direction of 
the ridge, at a distance, varying from a quarter of a 
mile to a league. This little elevation gives a pleas- 
ing view, to the right of a fertile country, newly re- 
deemed from the forest, while the steep, and some- 
times perpendicular wall of limestone, wooded to its 
summit, magnificently bars the prospect on the left. 

Many small streams descend from the mountain to 
the lake, and where they have worn their channel 
through the second bank, cause pretty sharp dips in 
the road. They are all numerically, and vaguely 
enough, named by their once reputed distances from 
Fort George, as the two, four, six, eight, ten, twelve 
Mile Creeks. The village of Si. David's stands on 
the Four Mile Creek, and seems retiring into a nook 
of the mountain. A newspaper is printed here, and 
edited with ability : there are also two saddlers' 
shops, at one of which I purchased a neat single 
harness for thirty dollars, when 1 set up my equipage. 
Thert-' are several miles of pine forest betwixt St. 
David's and the Twelve Mile Creek, which, though 
little interesting to an agriculturist, are imt, I think, 
without a charm for the traveller whose business is 
merely to hunt out any combination of forms and 
colours, in which either eyes, or fancy may find their 
account. Its smooth brown flooring ; straight trunks. 



128 NIAGARA. FRONTIER. 

shooling up like endless vistas of Guthick columns ; 
the vauilin^ of d.iik foiia^e above them; the unixer- 
sal sfil'ness, and even the reshious fragrance, so pow- 
erful on a hoi div, co.nbine (o produce in the mind 
a solemn, and almost rehi^ious feeling. " Ilia proce- 
n!-is syUai, el secrelu.n loci, et admiratio umbrae, 
fiJe:n nu uiiiis facil." There is a scattered hamlet 
an I court. House round the steep banks of the Twelve 
Miie Creek; we stopj)ed to bait our steed and selves 
a few miles beyomi, at a solitary log hut in the cen- 
tre of a forest ; where, besides oafs, we found excel- 
lent «<pruce beer made on the spot, and gingerbread 
cakes, as the siu;n specified, being underwritten, 
*' Cai^es and Beer." We arrived at the Forty Mile 
Creek in the dusk of the evening; the principal 
tavern was full, so we went to the second, where we 
were somewhat crossly received by an old Irish land- 
lady ; luckily, however, she recovered her good tem' 
per on perceiving us to be English officers, a species 
of ani nal she had learnf, dining the war, to treat 
with civilitv : her son had served in the militia, in 
token of which he was most obstreperously loyal, 
both in speech and song, during the whole evening. 
A fowl was speedily consigned from its slumbers to 
the pot, and served up, with the et-ceteras of the tea- 
table. The little rooiu, or rather closet, in which 
we supped, contained a bed for one of us ; the other 
was to sleep in the chamber above: an inspection, 
however, of the family loft so termed, induced me 
to alter this arrangement, by having my bed made 
up in the closet, which just held the two, and stand- 
ing roo'ii betwixt them. 1 was also forced to make 
another infringement on the customs of the house, 
by reqtiesting an additional sheet to the one, usually 
deemed sufficient. 3Iy friend walked out before 
breakfast, and shot, immediately round the house, 
several quail, a brace of woodcocks, and a partridge. 
The quails frequent the buck-wheat, at this season, 
in great numbers; we frequently saw bevies of them 



NIAGARA FRONTIER. 129 

by the road side. The American woodcock is small- 
er than ours ; its breast and belly are of a dirty ish 
pink. The partridge is more properly a species of 
pheasant, very nearly resembling our hen-pheasant, 
both in size and plumage, and is seldom found but 
in woods. On setting off to continue our journey, 
we took the pointer into the waggon, upon which our 
host exclaimed " I'll be hanged, if you Englishmen 
are not fonder of your dogs than of your wives ;" — 
nor would (his be any misplaced degiee of affection, 
were we all wived like mine host. The road contin- 
ues to Stony Creek, following, as before, the diiec- 
tion of the heights, with little diversity of landscape, 
except such as arises from Iheir occasional windings, 
and darkly-wooded recesses. At Siony Creek it 
breaks off to the right, towards the lake, and ap- 
proaches the outlet of Burlington-bay by a long neck 
of flat deep sand, thinly covered with coarse grass, ' 
and a few bushes and dwarf oaks. There is a pleas- 
ing view from the bridge, up the bay to Burlington, 
which is built on an elevated peninsula : beyond it 
lies another small lake, aptly denominated " Coot's 
Paradise," from which the land rises to the ridge, 
whose bold sweeping line encloses, with an amphi- 
theatre of woods, the little village of Dimdas, and all 
the country in that direction. We stopped to bait 
at a tavern of a substantial appearance, near the 
bridge, and looking to Lake Ontario. Our host, 
whose portly figure reflected no disgrace on the ap- 
pearance of his house, received us with bustling 
importance. " What could we have to eat ?" — 
" Whatever you please," was the reply, he had 
every thing in the house — "Well then a veal cutlet, 
as we are in haste." He went in, and presently re- 
turned, protesting his wife was quite out of humour 
at our thinking of veal cutlets, when the veal had 
been killed a fortnight. — " Well then, we are not 
particular, a pork chop will do" — but the pork chop 
only increased the storm. — "How could we expect 

17 



130 HIAGARA FRONTIER. 

a pork chop when the pork was all salted ?" — " Body 
of us, mine host," then said I, in the feelinjis of 
Sancho Panza nnder si.nilar vexations, " wliat < an 
we have ?" — Why we could have bread and clieese, 
or butter, if we preferred it ; and bread and bmter 
it was, seasoned hoivever by Bonniface's enlogium 
on his own 2;enerosi(y in keeping a tavern, wtilch he 
did, (he said,) not for tlie sake of profit, bnt because 
his feelings would not suffer him to send travellers 
from his door, albeit his wife was much ve>ied at 
this bene\olef)oe. 

A little way from this tavern stands the house built 
by our government for the Mohawk chief, Brandt, 
in recoinpense of his services during the American 
war. It is a larje sash-windowed house, opposite to 
the lake, and superiour in appearance to most house* 
in the Province. His wife was living in it at this 
time, but his son, with whom I had become acquaint- 
ed at Kingston, was at York. He is a fine young 
man, of gentlemardy manners, and appearance, speaks 
and writes English agreeably and co.rrectly, and 
dresses in the English fashion, retaining only the 
mocassins of his Indian habit. He served during 
the war, among his own people, with the rank and 
pay of a Lieutenant, which he still holds. 

It took us three hours to accomplish the five miles 
of road, betwixt the head of the lake and the main 
road, called Dundas-street, which runs frou) York 
towards Lake Erie, and Amherstsberg. We halted 
for the night at Hopkins^s inn, where we tound all 
the cleanliness and comfort a traveller can desire, 
with the alloy of but one little accident. Our game 
was to be cooked for supper ; a lhou>j;ht flashed us 
like lightning, while the preparations were going on 
in an outer room ; m\' friend rushed out, it was too 
late; the sacrilege had been committed; the wood- 
cocks had been profanely gutted, and were tossed 
ignobly, to be stewed in a common pot with the other 
birds : their excellence, however, though thus bar- 



NIAGARA FRONTIER. IJl 

barously degraded, could not be extinguished, and 
our appetilesj paid a just tribute io merit in dissguise. 

The lace of the country, from the head of the 
lake Io Yoik, is less varied than thai of the Niagara 
fiodtier. The thread of hetllenients u slender, and 
freqiienlly interrupted by long tracts of hemlock- 
swamp, and pine barrens. The banks of the several 
streams wJiich descend to the lake, are, like those of 
the frontier, bold and steep, exhibiting strata of 
crumbling red clay-slaie. Tiie river Credit is an 
Indian reser\e, well stocked wilh salmon: we found 
a faM)ily encamped on its banks, drying fish. 

There is a good bridge over the rocky bed of the 
Huinber, and large mills near it. The surface of 
the whole country seems flat ; 1 did not observe a 
single hill, or int- (jtjalily, but such as have been evi- 
dently formed by sireacns, descending over a soil 
little tenacious'; and as the banks of all these are 
very \olly, there is probably a considerable, though 
gradual, slope of the whole country down to the lake, 
the shores of which have no elevation worthy of notice. 
From the H umber to York is a uniform tract of 
sandy pine-barren, unsusceptible of culture ; a change 
of feature, probably connected with the ancient his- 
tory and revolutions of the lake. 

York being the seat of government for the upper 
province, is a place of considerable importance in 
the eyes of its inhabitants ; fo a stranger, however, 
it presents lillle more than about 100 wooden houses, 
several of them conveniently, and even elegantly 
built, and I think one, or peihaps two, of brick. 
The publick buildings were destroyed by the Ameri- 
cans; but as no ruins of them are visible, we must 
conclude, either, that (he destruction exceeded the 
desolation of Jerusalem, or that the loss to the arts 
is not quite irreparable. I believe they did not leave 
one slone upon ano(her, for they did not find one. 
Before (he cily, a long fiat tongue of land runs into the 
lake, called Gibraltar Point, probably from beiiig 



/ 



132 NIAGARA FRONTIER. 

very unlike Gibraltar. York wholly useless, either 
as a port, or military post, would sink into a village, 
and the seat of government be transferred to Kings- 
ton, but for the influence of those, whose pro- 
perty in the place would be depreciated by the 
change. 

My friend having returned to Q,ueenston by water, 
I left York with no companion but my dog, frequent- 
ly repealing, as my wain dragged heavil_y over the 
logged roads, which cross the swampy wooiis round 
the Mocaco and Etobico, the verses of Petrarca : 

" Solo e pensoso i piu deserti Canipi 
" Vo misurando a passi tardi, e lenti." 

Nothing looks less cheerful than the hut of a pri- 
mitive settler, especially when isolated in the mass of 
a dark heavy forest ; yet it is the first glance only 
•which is unpleasant, the second shews present com- 
fort, and progressional improvement. I do not re- 
member to have seen one of them abandoned, except 
for a better house : there are more ruined cottages in 
the vicinity of Cork, than in all North America. 

A few miles beyond Hopkins's inn, the road as- 
cends the limestone ridge, and sometimes runs so 
near the edge of it, that by stepping aside a few 
yards, the traveller perceives the level country he 
is traversing to be a terrace, about 300 (eei above 
the level of the lake. I descended by a road, so 
precipitous, as nearly to resemble, at its summit, an 
irregular flight of steps, to the village of Dundas, 
enclosed within the rich woods and angles of the 
heights : in fact, its territory is so much contracted 
by them, that it will admit of little increase of popu- 
lation ; and there is about it a stagnant aspect, very 
unlike that of its neighbour Ancaster. To reach 
Ancaster, the ridge, or mountain, as it is called here, 
must " with toilsome march" be again ascended. A 
stream gushing from the rocks above, turns several 



NIAGARA FRONTIER. 133 

mills by the roadside, and forms a pleasing cascade 
in the glen near ifs fountain. Having mounted the 
height, and entered llie village, 1 was agreeably sur- 
piised (o find a lavern, superiour both in size and ap- 
pearance fo any thing 1 had expected in a village so 
remote from any great line of travelling. On calling 
for the ostler, I was quietly answered, -' he would 
come as soon as he had taken his tea ;" so I manag- 
ed for myself; not caring, after a fatiguing day's 
journey, that my horse should wait his independent 
leisure, and the uncertain close of a tea-table con- 
versation. 

The landlady, a very obliging woman, apologized 
afterwards for this inattention, on the ground of the 
impossibility of procuring good servants ; and I men- 
tion this incident, one of many similar, to shew that 
this free and easy behaviour of the lower classes, 
which English travellers so frequently complain of 
in the States, and attribute to their Republican prin- 
ciples, is common enough under our own Govevn- 
menf, whenever the supply of labour is dispropor- 
tionate to the demand for it. 

Ancaster has a smiling aspect : new shops and 
houses, superiour in size, and architecture, to the old, 
are building rapidly. Its site is picturesquely grand, 
and the neighbourhood thickly spread with improving 
farms. Ancaster merits to be the metropolis of 
Upper Canada. 

A gentleman, to whom young Brandt had given 
me a letter of introduction, having some friend travel- 
ling towards the Grand River, I set off, the next 
morning after my arrival, for the Indian settlements. 



[ 1JJ4] 



CHAPTER XXII. 



INDIANS OF THE GRAND RIVER. 



X HE powerful Indian confederacy, known by (he 
name of Massawoomics, or Five Nntions, originally 
occupied the whole of the country betwixt the lai<es, 
and the Allegany ridges, from the sources of the 
Ohio to the banks of the Hudson. They were 
known, and dreaded by the French Canadians, under 
the name of Iroquois. " Each village, or canton," 
writes Lahontan, in 16^4, " contains 14,000 souls, of 
whom 1500 bear arras." In 1712, they received ihe 
Tuscaroras into their confederacy, and made them 
the sixth nation. " All the confederated tribes," 
says M )rse, "except the Oneidas, and Tusca- 
roras, sided with the British in the late war, and 
fought against the A nericans." In 1779 they were 
attacked by general Sullivan, and driven to Niagara ; 
their numbers were at this time estimated by Dodge 
at 1580. At Niagara, many of them died, "from 
being obliged," says Morse, " to live on salted pro- 
visons." The remainder had the lands round the 
Grand River assigned them for their support, by our 
government, where they have since resided, with 
the Dilawares and Missisagas, joint sufferers in the 
same cause; the latter of whom have given their 
name to the new fort opposite to Fort Niagara. It 
is probable, however, from the villages of the Six 
Nations still to be found within the territory of the 
State of New York, that, besides, the Oneidas and 
Tuscaroras, portions of the other four tribes, in op- 



INDIANS OF THE GRAND RITER. 135 

position to the general disposition of their nation, at- 
tached themselves to the American cause : a species 
of national disunion, resulting from an excess of in- 
dividual freedom, which has, on every occasion of 
hostilities, whetted the tomahawk of kindred war- 
riours, for the destruclion of their own clan. 

The Mohawks have always been esteemed the 
head of the confedeiacy. They were strongly at- 
tached to the British interest, and first followed Sir 
William Johnson into Canada, under their chieftain, 
" the Monster Brandt." The Monster had, however, 
some good qualifies. He accustomed his people to 
the arts of civilized life, and made farmers of them. 
He built a church, and translated one of the Gospels 
into the Mohawk language ; for, like Clovis, and 
many of the early Anglo-Saxon, and Danish Chris- 
tians, he contrived to unite much religious zeal with 
(he practices of natural ferocity. His grave is to 
be seen under the walls of his church. 1 have men- 
tioned one of his sons : he has also a daughter living, 
who would not disgrace the circles of European 
fashion : her face, and person are fine and graceful : 
she speaks English, not only correctly, but elegantly ; 
and has, both in her speech and manners, a softness 
approaching to Oriental languor : she retains so much 
of her national dress as to identity her with her 
people, over whom she afiects no superiority, but 
seems pleased to preserve all the ties, and duties of 
relationship. She held the infant of one of her re- 
lations at the font, on the Sunday of my visit to the 
church. The usual churt h, and baptismal service 
was performed by a Dr. Aaron, an Indian, and bh 
assistant priest ; the congregation consisted of 60 or 
70 persons, male and female : many of the young 
men were dressed in the English fashion, but several 
of the old warriours came with their blankets, folded 
over them, like the drapery of a statue ; and in 
this dress, with a step and mein of quiet energy, 
more forcibly reminded me of the ancient Boman;^ 



13^5 IXDIANS OF THK GUAND KIVER. 

(ban some other inliabilaiils of this confinent, who 
have luitl claim to the resemblance. Some of them 
wore huge silver crosses, medals, and o'her trinkets, 
on their backs and breasts ; and a few hail bandeaus, 
ornamonfed with feathers. Dr. Aaron, a grey-head- 
ed .Mohawk, had touched his cheeks and forehead 
wit!i a (ew spots of vermillion, in honour of Sunday : 
he wore a surplice, and preached at considerable 
leni^lh ; but his delivery was unimpassioned, and 
mooofonous in the extreme. Indian eloquence de- 
cays with the peculiar state of society to which it 
owed its energy. 

The ^Mohawk village stands on a little |>lain, look- 
ing down upon the Grand river ; upon the alluvion 
of which the inhabitants raise their ciops, chiefly of 
Indian corn. Their houses are built of logs, rudely 
pot together, and exhibiting externally a great ap- 
pearance of neglect, ami want of comfort. Some few 
are in a better condition : the house belonging to 
Brandt's family resembles that of a petty English 
farmer; Dr. Aaron's was neat and clean. The Doc- 
tor, who had been regularlv ordained, and spoke very 
good English, told me the village had been injured 
much by the war, which had put a stop to its im- 
provements, and dispersed the inhabitants over the 
coimtry. This is probable enough : the Indians ad- 
vance towards civilized life with a forced motion, 
and revert to habits of warfare, and wanderins:, with 
a natural rebound. The Cayugas seem to have 
made less progress than the IMohawks, towards tlo- 
mestick accommodation : the fire is still in the "middle 
of their dwellings : the earth, or a block of wood, suffi- 
ces for chair and table ; and planks, arranged round 
the walls, like cabin births, form their beds. They 
seemed very cheerful, though with little reason; for 
their crop of Indian corn, which they were now 
drying and husking, had been spoiled by premature 
frost, and in common with all the other Indians of 
the settlement, their only resource against starva- 



INDIANS OF THE GRAND RIVER. 137 

tion, was the British Commissariat. They confine 
tbeiiiseltes lo the ciillivalion of Indian corn, because 
it requires little labour, and of that sort which niaj 
be performed by women ; the consequence is, that 
a single irosl^ iiighl aliikes them with famine, or at 
least ihruns them for support upon the magazine of 
Kiui^ston. Thee\il and reniedy proceed from the 
same source : an luibilual dependance on our bounty 
deslroys, by renilering needless, ail exertion towards 
self-stip|)ort. Bui from the system of Indiar) tutelage 
resulis ihe necessily of guardianship, that is, of the 
Indian department, thiough which some thousands 
of (lie piiblick money are annually filtered : a plentiful 
harvest on the Grand River would destroy golden 
crops of place ami patronage. 

] had little opportunity of observitig their manners 
and chaiacter. It may be conjectured that Euro- 
pean inleicourse is fast obliterating the characler- 
islick features of their tortner social system. Their 
increaseil knowledge of our arts and enjoyments, 
has been probably followed by a proportionate in- 
crease of wants, and de-<ires, and these, by the 
usual accession of their concomitant passions. It is 
likely they are less brave, less temperate, less saga- 
cious, and less ardent in their social affections, than 
their woodland ancestors ; but also less cruel and re- 
vengeful, more selfi->h, and more religious. In the 
vicinity of their settlements they have the character 
of being inotiensive neighbours, and of living peacea- 
bly among ttiemselves, except when under the oc- 
casional influence of intoxication. Their manners 
seemed to me remarkable for nothing so much as for 
that quiet self-possession, which constitutes the re- 
verse of vulgarity. Their women, before strangers, 
are extremely timid : most of those who lived at any 
distance from the church, came mounted, with their 
husbands walking by their sides ; a symptom, per- 
haps, that the sex is rising among them into an Eu- 
ropean equality of rights and enjoyments. 

18 



138 INDIANS OF THE GRAND RIVER. 

The whole of the seKlements are reckoned to fur- 
nish about 500 warriours to our Goverimieiil. -The^e, 
if not the best, are certainly the dearest of our allies : 
besides the support of theni^ehes and their families 
during war, several thousand:? are expended annually 
in cloathing, and nick-nacks, under the name of pre- 
sents. Every accidental loss, from failure of crops, 
or other disasters, they are in the habit of expect- 
ing should be made good by the liberality of their 
" Great Father," whose means and generosity they 
are well disposed to consider as unbounded ; an idea 
which his agents are little careful to repress. During 
the late war they behaved with the cautious courage 
of German auxiliaries, evidently considering it their 
first interest to spare themselves, their second, to 
serve their father; a mode of conduct which was 
nearly resented by the more enterprising warriours 
of the West, who had taken up the hatchet from a 
strong feeling of necessity, and hatred to the en- 
croachments of the Americans. Among these, the 
most distinguished was Tecumseh, a Shawnee chief- 
tain, whose courage and cooimanding talents recom- 
mended him, early in the war, not only to the notice, 
but to the personal esteem and admiration of Sir 
Isaac Brocke.* Tecumseh perceived the necessity 
of a general Indian confederacy, as the only perma- 
nent barrier to the dominion of the States. AVhat 
he had the genius to conceive, he had the talents to 
execute : eloquence, and address, courage, penetra- 
tion, and what in an Indian is more remarkable than 
these, undeviating temperance. Under better aus- 

* The General, one day, presented him with the sash he had 
worn on his own person. Tecnniseh received it with great 
emotion, and begged the General to consider, that if he re- 
frained from wearins: it himself, it was from an anxiety to pre- 
vent the jealousy, which such an honour conferred on a young 
chieftain, might excite among the older Indian captains; but 
that he iTonId send it to his family, to be preser?ed as an eter- 
nal memorial of his father's friendship. 



INDIAirS Of THE GRAND RIVER. 139 

pices, (his Amphictyonick league mighf have been 
effecJed; but afler the death of his friend arul patron, 
he found no kindred spirit M'ith whom to act; but 
stung with grief and indignation, afler upbraiding, in 
the bitterest sarrasnts,* ihe refreai of our forces, 
he engaged an American detachment of mounted 
riflemen, near the Mora\ian village, and having rush- 
ed forward, singly, to encounler their commanding 
officer, whom he mistook for General Harrison, he 
fell by a pistol ball. The exultations of the Ameri- 
cans on his death, afford unerring, because unintend- 
ed, evidence of the dread his talents had inspired. f 



TO THE MEMORY OF TECUMSEH. 

Tecumseh has no grave, but eao;Ies dipt 

Th«"ir rav'iiing heaks, and drank his stout heart's tide, 

Leaving his bones to whiten where he died : 
His si<in hy Christian tomahawks was siript 

Prf)m the bnrM fibres.;}: — Impotence of pride ! 
Triumphant oVr the earth-worm, tiut in vain 

Deeming th' impassive spirit to deride, 
Which, nothing or immortal, knows no pain ! 

*" I compare." said he. speaking of the author of this re- 
treat, "onr father to a fat white doj. who. in the season of 
prosperity earries his tail erect on his back, but drops it be- 
twixt his lea;*, and tlies at the approach of daiiaer." On ano- 
ther Ofca«ioii when by way of pacify in<i, hi-; remonstrances w;th 
a meta[)hor. in the Indian manner, onr commander professed 
his readiness to lay his bones by his side, "I'ell the dog." said 
the an^ry warrioiir, " he has too much regard for his carcass, to 
lay his bones any where." 

f The officer who shot him was a Colonel Johnson, who had 
been himself sf'v< rely woiuided the moment before. Tecum- 
seh bore a personal ininity to General Harrison, fo whom he 
attributed the slaughter of his family ; and had avowed, lliat 
when they met, one of them should be left on the field. 

J The riflemen are said to have cut off strips of his skin, to 
preserve as trophies. ^ 



140 INDIANS OF THE GRAND lUVER. 

Mighf ye torment hira to thi9 earth ngain, 
'J'hat were an agony : his children's hlood 
Deluw'd his soul, and, like a fiery flood, 

Scorch'd u|i his core of heing. Then the staia 

Of flight was on him, and the wringing thought, 
He should no more the crimson hatchet raise, 
Nor drink from kindred lips his song of |)r<iise; 

So Liberty, he deem'd, with life was cheaply bought. 



[ 141 ] 



CHAPTER XXIIf. 



THE FALLS OF NIAGARA. 



To deacribe the Falls of Niagara, is fo lei! a Ihrice- 
told tale; yet few can have looked on (his marvel of 
nalure wilh so cold an eye, as not to wi«h for some 
record of the emotions it occasioned. The history 
of our sensations, as excited by the siiblimest objects 
of art or nalnre, would be far worthier of perusal, 
than the legends of our vanities and passions, of 
which history is, for (he most part, compounded. It 
is little, that such spectacles are innocent : an en- 
thusiast in the fine arts has declared, that no one 
can contemplate (he Apollo Belvidere without feeling 
an exaltation of his moral being. The miracles of 
nature are not less powerful : to be conversant with 
them, is to feel too sensibly (he Ii((lenes3 of ordina- 
ry pursuits and vulgar gains, to become deeply im- 
mersed in (heir polluted \ortex. By frequendy gaz- 
ing on scenes, in which the power of man is nothing, 
the possession of (hat power becomes an object of 
indifferenre or contempt : we approach (he con(ent- 
ment of Diogenes, without its c\ nitainess, and have 
nothing (o ask of the masters of (he world, but that 
they would leave us the free use of sky and sun- 
shine — a greater boon, indeed, than they are com- 
monly disposed to grant. 

A( Q,'ieen«»ton, seven miles from the falls, their 
sound, united with (he rushing of (he river, is dis- 
tinctly heard. A( the distance of about a mile, a 
white cloud hovering o\er the trees, indicates their 
nitualion : it is not, however, until the road emejges 



142 THE FALLS OF NIAGARA. 

from a close country info the space of open ground 
imrnedialely in their vicinity, thai the white volumes 
of foam are seen, as if boiling up from a sulphuious 
guiph. Here a fool-path turns from the roail, lo- 
wanis a wooded chff. The rapids are belield on the 
right, rushing, for the space of a mile, like a tempes- 
tuous sea. A narrow tract descends about 60 feet 
down the cliff, and continues across a plashy mea- 
dow, through a copse, encumbered with masses of 
limestone ; extricated from which, I found myself on 
the Table Rock, al the very point where the river 
precipitates itself into the abyss. The rapid motion 
of I he waters, the stunning noise, the mounting 
clouds, almost persuade the startled senses, that th^ 
rock itself is tottering, and on the point of rolling 
down into the gulph, which swallows up the mass of 
descending waters. I bent over if, fo mark the 
clouds rolling white benealh me, as in an inverted 
sky, illumined by a most brillianf rainbow, — one of 
those features of softness, which Nature delights to 
pencil amid her wildest scenes, tempering her awful- 
ness with beauty, and making her very terrours 
lovely. 

There is a ladder about half a mile below the Ta- 
ble Rock, by which I descended the cliff, to reach 
the foot of the fall. Mr. Weld has detailed the ins- 
pediments and difficulties of this approach, and M. 
Volney confesses they were such as to overcome 
his exertions to surmount them ; a few years, how- 
ever, have made a great change ; the present dan- 
gers and difficulties may be easily enumerated. The 
first is, the ordinary hazard every one runs, who 
goes up, or down a ladder ; this is a very good one 
of 30 steps, or about 40 feet ; from thence the path 
is a rough one, over the fragments and masses of 
rock, which have gradually crumbled, or been forci- 
bly riven, from the cliff, and which cover a broad 
declining space, from its base to the river brink. 
The only risk in this part of the pilgrimage, is that 



THE FALLS OF NIAGARA. 143 

of a broken shin from a false step. The path grows 
smooth as it advances to the fall, so that the undi- 
vided attention may be given to this imposing spec- 
tacle. 1 fell a sensation of awe as 1 drew near it, 
like that cansed by the first cannon on the morning 
of battle. I passed from sunshine into gioom and 
tempest : the spray beat down in a heavy rain ; a' 
violent wind rushed from behind the sheet of water: 
it was difficult to respire, and tor a moment, it seem- 
ed temerity to encounter the convulsive workings of 
the elements, and intrude into the dark dwellings 
of their power : but the danger is in appearance only ; 
it is possible to penetrate but a few steps behind the 
curtain and in these tew, there is no hazard ; the 
footing is good, and the space sufficiently broad and 
free; there is not even a necessity for a guide, two 
eyes amply suffice to point out all that is to be seen 
or avoided. During my first visit, there were two 
joung American ladies on the same errand, who 
were drenched, as well as myself, in the cloud of 
spray. In my opinion, more is lost than gained, by 
this facility. The eflcct produced upon us, by any 
object of admiration, is increased by the difficulties 
of approaching it ; ihe imagination does not suffer to 
be thrown away, a single particle of all that has been 
expended in the pursuit : lovers and pilgrims know 
this ; bring a Baptist's head, or even the wood of 
the true cress, to the believer's door, ihey will soon 
lose all power over his fancy. Objects, indeed, of 
real beauty or sublimity, are privileged never whol- 
ly to fail of their effect, whatever may be the disad- 
vantages under which they are seen ; still it may be, 
and is, weakened by them. Are the feelings excited 
by the Elgin marbles, when we view them, elbowed 
by groups of simpering fashionables, and gaping 
tradesmen, the same with those they must have 
awakened in the bosom of the lonely traveller, silting 
before the fane of Theseus ? — For Niagara, I fore- 
see that in a few years travellers will find a finger 



144 THK FALLS OF NIAGARA. 

posf, " To the F;ills' Tea Gardens," with cakes and 
refreshments, set out on (he Table Rock. 

The nane of "ihe H.)iNe shoe," hitherto given to 
the Urger Fail, is no longer applicable : it has be- 
co'ne an acute angle. M. Volney and iMr. Weld 
have observed this change.* An officer, who had 
been stationed in the neighbourhood thirty years, 
pointed out to rae the alteration wliich had taken 
place in the centre of (he Fall, which he estimated 
at about eighteen feet in the thirty years. M. Vol- 
ney, speakin-j; of the limestone ridge at Q,ueenslon, 
observes, "Pour quiconque examine avec attention 
toufes les circonstances de ce local, il devieni evi- 
dent que c'est ici que la chute a d'abord commence, 
et que c'est en sciant, pour ainsi dire, les banes dii 
rocher que le fleuve a creuse le ravin, et recule 
d'age en a;e sa breche jusq'au lieu ou est niainten- 
ant la cascade." It does not seem that any objec- 
tion lies against this theory, for admitting that (he 
present bad of the Fall wears away, and recedes, as 
it evidently does, there is no reason to set any other 
limit to the coinmencemant of this action, than- (he 
commencement of the impediment by which it is 
caused. If confirms this hypothesis, that from 
Q'leensfon to the foot of the Falls there are no 
islands, though at, and above (hem, there are many. 
Upon this supposition, (hen, and from the rough 
estimate hitherto forined, some calculation may be 
made, approximating to (he probable length of time 
the river has employed in thus wearing its way back- 
wards. The distance is about six tniles ; and as the 
substan'',e to be W'.)rn away is ho nogeneous, the pro- 
gress would be tolerably uniform in uniform spaces 
of time : the result, however, startles our chronology. 

* Tj°s plus vieiix liahit^ns dii pavs, coiume I'ohserve M. Weld, se 
rapellent avoir vii 1^ citaricte pill'! avmcee de plusieurs pas. Un officier 
An^lois, stationne Jepuis trente aii" nu Fort Erie, liii cita des faits posilifs, 
proiivant que des rociiers, alors existans, avaient ete miues et engloutis. — 
Cliinat D'Ainerique, T. i. p. 119. 



THE FALLS OF NIAGARA. 145 

M. Volney denominates the limestone of this fron- 
tier " />/tmt7//', OH chrystallisi.^' It however con- 
tains organick recnains, as well as that of the Gene- 
see counlry, but not in such abundance as the bed 
of Lake Erie. He consitiers it as resting " sur dea 
bancs de schiste ble<i, que contiennenf tine forte 
dose de soutfre." I observed sulphur oozing abun- 
dantly from the cliflf iinniediafely adjacent to, and 
within the spray of the Fall.* 

The lesser Fall, on the American side, had a 
considerable appearance of elevation above the bed 
of the greater : upon inquiry, I found there was a 
difterence of fifteen feet between them, caused pro- 
bably by the greater weight of water descending 
down the latter; the effect of the scene is increased 
by this ciroutnstance. 

The island which divides the Falls has been fre- 
quently visited of late years, nor, odd as it may 
seem, is it an adventure of u)uch hazard. Examin- 
ing the map, it will be seen, that at the point, at 
which the rapids commence, the current separates, 
and is drawn on either side, towards the two Falls, 
while the centre of the strea'n, being in the straight 
line. of the island, descends towards it without any 
violent attraction ; and down this still water Ameri- 
can boats, well manned, and provided with poles to 
secure them from the action of the two currents, have 
frequently dropi, to the Island. Since, however, 
the small military post the Americans occupied, on 
their side of the river, has been abandoned, there 
are no boats in the neighbourhood, equal to the at- 
tempt. 

The whirlpool is about half-way betwixt Queens- 
ton and Niagara. The river, boiling, and eddying 
from the Falls, enters a circular basin, round which 
the lofty cliff sweeps like an antique wall, overgrown 

* 1 found gypsum incorporated with the limestone, in seve- 
ral parts of tt)e cliff. 

19 



146 THE FALLS OF NIAGARA. 

with trees at its base, and amid its clefts and crevi- 
ces. The cause of the wtiirlpool is readily per- 
ceived by the spectalor, who looks down, anil ob- 
serves that the stream, being compelled inio this 
basin, by the direction of its channel, and unable to 
escape ivilh equal celerity, is forced to gain time by 
revolving within ils circumference.* 

The river widens above the Falls. The banks 
are low and the adjoining country flat. The bridge 
pver the Chippewa is protected by a lete de ponl : 
the river is properly a long stagnant creek, or drain, 
to C'anby Marsh, which covers all the interiour of 
the frontier, from the Giand River. — Fort Erie has 
a war-woin aspect, decayed both in stretigth and 
dignity. A rag upon a crooked pole, was (he only 
banner, floating on the evening breeze: the walls 
were tenanMess. The original building was a fortifi- 
ed stone barrack : four small bastions were com- 
menced before the war, and one of them partly faced, 
but without curtains. An Otficer, who stood gover- 
nour when hostilities commenced, finding these works 
too scattered and unconnected for his small garri- 
son, drew an interiour entrenchment round the bar- 
rack, which he declared to be impregnable, and as 
he prudently avoided bringing his declaration to a 
trial, it may still hold good. When (he Americans 
defended the fort under General Brown, they con- 
verted each of the bastions into a detached redoubt ; 
raised a cavalier battery on one of them, and con- 
nected them with abattis : It was the acciilental ex- 
plosion of one of these, during our assault, in Sept. 
1814, that saved (heir army in Its entrenched caaip, 
on Snake Hill, adjoining the fort.f Snake Hill is 

* The first cause of this cihow in the course of the river, 
was probably the opposition of some part of the cliff on the 
norfliern side of the basin, harder than the rest. 

t General Brown has admitted the explosion to have been 
accidental : it took place after onr troops had possession of the 
bastion, most probably by a wad's entering the powder maga- 
zine beneath it. 



THE FALLS OF NIAGARA. 14? 

a sand-hillock, on the edge of the lake, and proves 
how easy it is, to be a hill in a flat country. The 
basin ot Lake Erie is limestone, most inhospitable to 
eels. 1 1 abounds in organick remains, corals, reeds, 
shells, &c., diflering in this respect, from the rock 
round Niagara, in which the impression of a shell 
is rarely to be discovered. 

Crossing the Niagara to Black Rock, by a ferry 
three-fourths of a mile over, 1 again entered the ter- 
ritory of the United States. * 



( 148 ] 



CHAPTER XXIV. 



BLACK ROCK TO PHILADELPHIA. 



Oct. 19, Buffalo . 


2 Miles. N. Yorfc, 


Williamsville 


10 


Porter's Ina 


4 


20. Buavia 


26 


21, Caledonia 


17 


23, \von 


7 


Dmville 


28 


24, Canisteo 


17 


25, Bath 


20 


20, Piiiited Post 


18 


27, NewtowQ or Elraira 


17 


28, Tyoga Poiat 


20 Pennsylvania. 


30, VVysall 


13 


Le Fevre'3 Inn 


8 


31, Wyaliising 


8 


TiinkhHOOck 


20 


Nov. 1, Wilkesbarre 


28 


4, VVragg's Inn 


17 


Pokouo Mountain 


12 


5, Wind Gip 


16 1-2 


Nazareth 


9 


6, Bethlehem 


10 


7, Seller's 'nn 


20 


8, Philadelphia 


31 



378 1-2 



-Buffalo was among the frontier villages burnt dur- 
ing the war ; not a house was left standing. It is now 
not ojerely a flourishing village, but a considerable 
town, with shops and hotels, which might any where 
be called handsome, and in this part of the country, 
astonishing. Its situation is highly advantageous, 
forming the extremity of the new line of settled 
country already described, and communicating by 
the Lakes with the Western States of the Union, and 



BLACK ROCK TO PHILADELPHIA. 149 

the two Canadas. The American side of Lake 
Erie is also selfliiig fast, and Eiie is ah'eady a thriv- 
ing lown. The celerity with which BuflUlo has risen 
from its ashes, indicates the juvenile spirit of life and 
increase, that so eminently dislini^uishes the Ameri- 
can population (Vom the exhausted tribes of our he- 
misphere, which seem, in many countries, scarcely 
to preserve vitiality sufScient to bear up against the 
evils of inequality and bad governmment.' *' The 
hot breath of war" is sjcarcely felt here, or, like 
their own forest conflagrations, is succeeded by a 
livelier verdure, and richer produce. 

I found the country as I went on, thickly settled,* 
but dull, and uniform in feature, being an entire flat- 
The autumn had been dry, and water was so scarce 
in many places, that my horse was sometimes very 
grudgingly served with what had been fetched seve- 
ral miles. This is an evil not uncommon in newly 
settled districts : draining follows clearing ; the creeks, 
no longer fed by the swamps, disencumbered also of 
fallen trunks of trees, and other substances by which 
<heir waters were in a great degree stayed, easily 
run dry in summer, and soon fail allogetlier. 

The principal inn at Bafavia is large, and yet upon 
an economical principle, for one roof covers hotel, 
prison, court-house, and assembly room. I observed 
several prisoners at the bars of a lower room, and in- 
quired of an old German about the house, what might 
generally be their offences. " They had been most 
of them speculating too much." • It seemed hard 
thus to punish men for the ingenious use of their wits, 
so I begged a further explanation : they had been 
fo: ::!ng bank-notes. This delicate definition remind- 
ed me of a farmer at Waterlown, with whom we fell 
upon the subjects of English deserters. "We don't 
want them here," said he ; " they are too familiar 

* It was a "dreary wilderness" wjien Mr. Moore travelled 
through it. 



1^0 BLACK KOCK TO PHILADELPHIA. 

by half." Now, lhoii;;h I coiiUl re.idily believe of 
these inv oojntryneti, thai basbfulness had no part 
in (he in, it seemed an odd jfroniid of co nplainl for a 
Yankt^y; ^o i repealed soiu'ethiii;; woiuleriiisily, "too 
faniiiar!" " Ave," rejoined he, "they steal every 
thiii^ Ihey can lav iheir hands upon." There is an 
E )iscoi)al C'liirch building here by subscription; 
the cost of which is to be 20,000 dollars. INly liost 
oflfered jue a " Stirrup Cup," al partin;^, a civility 
not unusud in tl>e nntravelled parts, both of the 
States, and Canada. 

Allan's Creek, betwixt B.ifavia and Caledonia, 
see ns, fron the banks still remaininf^, at some distance 
fro n its present channel, to have been once a consi- 
derab'e river, as was its neighbour, the stream of Ca- 
ledo UH, bv the same token. 

Cde Ionia is a small, but flourisliino; villas^e, and 
has a han Iso ne inn, with very co nfortable accommo- 
da'ions : close to the road is a sheet of water, cover- 
ing seven or ^i^ht acres, called the G;-eat Spring, 
fro n which a clear and rapid stream descends, (hroii;;li 
a nieasin':; valley, into Allan's Creek, before the lat- 
ter unites with the Genesee River. Its banks are 
adorned with natural sjroves and copses, in which I 
observed the can lleberry nvrtle in great abundance ; 
but a imtre interesting sight is the quantity of orga- 
nick re nains, with which the blocks of limestone, 
scattered through the lovv ground round it, are en- 
crusted, as if vvith rude sculpture : they are mixed 
with nodules of granite, and present innumerable 
for(ns both of shells and aquatick plants : (he shells 
were freq leutlv attached to stones, and imbedded in 
sand, evincing their co nparativelv late deposition. 
This district has been settled fifteen years ; cleared 
land is worth 50 dollars per acre ; uncleared about 
15 dollars. Far ners reckon upon a return in crops 
of about twenty-five for one. 

I halted a i\\y at Caledonia to rest mv horse, and 
shoot partridges, and the next luoruiug went on to 



I 
BLACK ROCK TO PHILADELPHIA. 1.51 

Avon, on the righf bank of the Genesee, to break- 
fast : here let ine record the fame of the litlje red- 
bricked tavern, on the right hand sitle, near the en- 
trance of the village (I forget the sign.) in fifteen 
iriiiinfes afier my arri> al I sat down to a breakfast 
which a Parisian gonriiiand might have envied me. — 
By (he bye, the Americans excel in breakfasts, 
though their dinners are naught.— At Avon I quitted 
the main road, and following the right bank of the 
Genesee, began, soon after crossing the stream of 
Lake Comesus, to fall in with liie s|)nrs of the Alle- 
gany Ridges. The scenery here improves, and the 
roads p.oportionably deteriorate : wild even tosavage- 
ness, mountain heights branch thickly across the 
coimtry, with no seeming order or dfrection, like so 
many gigantick mole-hills. The only level ground is 
the narrow alluvion of the streams, whicli the road is, 
as often as possible, taught to follow ; when it cannot 
do so, it affords a very practical illustration of the ups 
and downs of life ; yet is this travelling preferable, 
perhaps in both instances, to the nnilorniity which 
causes no fatigue, and excites no emotion. If the 
height be toilsome, the prospect is pleasant of the 
deep glens, and shades beneafh, and of the blue hills 
smiling in distant sunshine. The \alley is often en- 
cumfiered with rocks, and its road deep and plashy ; 
but the white broken torrent rushes agreeably through 
if : its veidure is deep and various, or its cullivaJiop 
cheerful. The Genesee River seems to bound the 
limestone region in this direction. The Allegany 
Ridges, less rugged and precipitious than granite 
mountains, are bolder and more irregular than the 
limesione heights, which have a nearer resemblance 
to long terraces of masonry. M. Volney considers 
the Freestone Mountains, called the Katskill, which 
fall upon the Hudson below Albany, as bounding the 
granitick region towards the East, and constituting 
the basis of the whole mountain coun'ry from thence 
to the Apalachian Ridges, and Georgia, fixing the 



152 BLACK ROCK TO PHILADELPHIA. 

sources of the Susquehanna, and the Genesee Coiin- 
ivy as the points of contact betwixt it and the Linie- 
stone Country. M. Guillemard observes (M. Vol- 
ney, t. i. p. 57.) 

" Le sol de toiiie la haute Soskoiiana est niele de 
schistes, de pierrf s de geiss, df schorl, de feid-sjiath, coufie 
d'une foule desillons peu e'evees, qui inontent par gradins 
' jusqu'a L'Allefjueny ; la ihimine le p;ies." 

The woods round the Genesee abound in large 
black squirrels, some of which are as bio, as a small 
cat ; they are destructive to grain, and are therefore 
keenly pursued by sportsmen, who frequently make 
parties, and celebrate the destruction of several 
thousands at one chase : their flesh is considered a de- 
licacy : they migrate at different seasons, and have 
the credit of ingeniously ferrying themselves over 
rivers, by using a piece of, bark for a raft, and their 
tails for sails. Olaus Wormius tells us the same story 
of the Norwegian squirrels,* and Linnaeus authorizes 
the belief, so I suppose it to be an indigenous talent, 
though it would not cost much to a builder of hypo- 
theses to infer from thence the derivation of Ameri- 
can squirrels from an European stock. 

The road from Danville crosses a creek, winds 
for three miles up a mountain steep, heavily timber- 
ed, and continues through swampy forests to Canis- 
teo. Close to the little village of Arkport the 
Tyoga branch of the Siisquehanna rises, in a mea- 
dow by the road side. Arkport is named from the 
low flat boats called arks, which are built there, and 
used on the Tyoga, and Susquehanna, whose bead- 
wafers have depth for no other craft, and for this, 
during the rainy season only. If may be supposed 
that so rugged a country is very thinly settled : vil- 
lages are separated by a distance of fifteen or twenty 
miles, with few intermediate cottages. Betwixt Ca- 

* " Traiiatat Iisec b'3stio!a per arnn:?s exi^iio ligno caudain 
habeiis pro velo expan';aiTi :" nor can it he otlierk^He ; " Noo 
enim ei natura alicessum couit nataodi raodura." — Ixviii. 14. 



BLACK ROCK TO PHILADELPHIA. 153 

nisteo and Bath there are not more than a dozen, 
though improvements are going on. The principal 
settlements are to be found on the narrow alluvions 
of the creeks and rivers ; hut even there the soil is 
of an inferiour quality. The roads are bad enough, 
but I was surprised to see them deep and miry, 
having experienced but one wet day during the au- 
tumn. I found, however, that this calculation would 
not apply to the motmtains, or to the country east of 
them, where there had been heavy falls of rain : a 
circumstance easily accounted for by considering 
that the clouds whit h come impregnated with mois- 
ture from the Atlantic!;, are frequently arrested by 
the mouiiidins, and disgorged, witl>6ut crossing into 
the Western country. 

Bath is built on the alluvion of the Conbocto 
Creek, and embosomed in wild mountains : the prin- 
cipal houses are placed round the three sides of a 
square, or green, and being most of them new, wliite, 
and tastefully finished, have a lively appearance, 
agreeably contrasted with the dark mountain scene- 
ry which opens on the fourth side- It was court 
day when 1 arrived, and as the court was held at 
the tavern to which I had been recommended, I 
found it in a bustle, but I was not the less comforta- 
bly accommodated in a well-furnished carpeted par- 
lour, in which dinner was neatly and expeditiously 
served. 

Among the persons at the court-meeting was the 
Militia General, M'Clure, who brought on his coun- 
trymen the destruction of their frontier, by his 
wanton burning of Newark. He keeps a store in 
Bath, and succeeded to the command which he dis- 
graced, either by accident, or through the want of a 
fitter man. He had lately been cast in 1400 dollars 
damages at Canandaigua, in an action brought by an 
inhabitant of Newark, tor the destrsiction of his pro- 
perty. It would be judging the Ameiicans unfairly 
to suppose they had regarded his conduct with in- 

20 



154 BLACK ROCK TO PHILADELPHIA. 

difference : for some time after it, he scarcely dared 
lo show himself in his own neighbourhood ; and 
being on one occasion recognized at a pnblick auc- 
tion-mart in Philadelphia, he was hooted out of the 
room. 

Many affect to consider the American government 
as confederate with its officer in the burning of 
Newark. It must be observed, first of all, that Mr. 
M'Clure's conduct was disavowed ; and secondly, 
that his instructions have been produced, directing 
him to " destroy the village, in case it shouki be ne- 
cessary for the defence of tlie fort." Every one 
acquainted with the rules of war, or even with the 
rules of common sense, knows such instructions to 
be perfectly correct ; yet the calumny has still held 
its ground ; as if the American government, how- 
ever willing in principle, had really any interest to 
commence a system of desolation, which could not 
but be, as it was, heavily retaliated u[)on inhabitants, 
as innocent and defenceless as those of Newark. 
" But jealous minds will not be answered thus." A 
lurking hostility to republicanism has been too fre- 
quently suffered to colour our views of the conduct 
of America. Had I believed many Englishmen in 
Canada, 1 should have believed there were neither 
honour, faith, nor honesty in the United States; and 
that the whole of their military conduct was as odious 
for its cruelty, as ridiculous for its blunders ; yet as 
far as I could sift out the truth, even on our side of 
the Boundary Line, there was, as in all wars, some- 
thing to be praised, and much to be blamed on the 
part of both. Each nation may charge the other 
with many acts of devastation, and perhaps some 
unnecessary bloodshed ; but each could also call to 
mind, amid many deeds of gallantry, traits of high 
feeling, and generous humanity. Should the reverse 
side of the picture be alone retained in sight ? — 
Perish^ the records of glory, and warlike achieve- 



BLACK ROCK TO PHILADELPHIA. 155 

ment, if they serve but to perpetuate national anirao" 
sities, and whet the svvoid tor a future contest ! 

There is a road from Bath by I he shores of the 
Crooked Lake to Jerusalem, the village of the Elect 
Lady, Jeiniiua Wilkinson, and her sect of Friends. 
A story is current in this part of the country, that 
having signitied her inientiou of proving (he truth of 
her mission, by walking on the walers, and assembled 
her followers to witness the miracle, she asked them 
wheiher tf-^y truly believed in her ability to per- 
form it, to which they unanimously replied, " (hey 
did ;" " Then," said she " the performance of it is 
unnecessary ;" and so, as may be believed, they 
went (heir ways wi(hout it. 

The road from Bath to Painted Post, follows the 
alluvion of the Conhocio branch of the Tyoga, and 
though stony is tolerably level ; it crosses the Creek 
twice in (he last six miles. The mountains have a 
slaty appearance, with horizontal strata. I was dis- 
appointed at Painted Post to find the post gone; 
broken down, or rotted, within these few years. It 
was, as may be supposed, an Indian memorial, either 
of triumphj or death, or of both. A post is not 
much, but, in this instance it was a record of the 
past, a memorial of, (may I be pardoned the expres- 
sion,) the heroick ages of America!^ 

When I was at Ancaster I was shown the grave 
of an Indian, among the woods near the head of the 
Stream : I( was coa ered with boards, and a pole 
erected at each end, on which a kind of dance was 
rudely painted wilh veriiillion. The relatives of 
the deceased brought offerings to it daily during 
their stay in the neighbourhood ; a vitality of sorrow 
truly savage. 

* M. Volney, without meaning to speak their praise, dis- 
covers a wondcrlul resemblance betwixt the Indians, and 
the heroes of Homer and Sophocles. Vid. " £claircissemeQS 
sur les Sauvages," t. 11. p. 502. 



156 BLACK ROCK TO PHILADELPHIA. 

New Town, or Elinira, (I put down both the 
names, for I went six miles about, from not know- 
ing it had the happiness to have two,) is pleasantly 
situated on the edge of the Tjoga : its appearance, 
however, is far from gay, for few of the houses are 
painted, and wooden buildings, without this precau- 
tion, soon acquire a dingy decayed appearance. 
But New Town has better claims than mere good 
looks, to my grateful remembrance. Owing to some 
accidental delays, in the course of my journey, I 
found by the time of my arrival here, that I had 
not cash sufficient to carry me to Philadelphia, nor 
even much farther than New Town : I had bills on 
Philadelphia, and applied to a respectable store- 
keeper, that is, tradesman, of the village, to cash me 
one; the amount, however, was bej/ond any remit- 
tance he had occasion to make, but he immediately 
otfered me whatever sura I might require for my 
journey, with no better security than my word, for 
its repayment at Philadelphia ; he even insisted on 
my taking more than I mentioned as sufficient. I 
do not believe this trait of liberality would surprise 
an Auierican, for no one in the States, to whom I 
mentioned it, seemed to consider it as more than 
any stranger of respectable appearance might have 
looked for, in similaf circumstances ; but it might 
well surprise an English traveller, who had been 
told, as I had, that the Americans never failed to 
cheat and insult every Englishman who travelled 
through their country, especially if they knew him 
to be an officer : this latter particular tliey never 
failed to inform themselves of, for they are by no 
means bashful in inquiries ; but if the discovery ope- 
rated in any way upon their behaviour, it was 
rather to my advantage, nor did I meet with a 
single instance of incivility betwixt Canada and 
Charleston, except at the Shenandoah Point, from 
a drunken English deserter. — My testimony, in this 
particular, will certainly not invalidate the complaints 



BLACK ROCK TO PHILADELPHIA. 157 

of many other fravellers, who, 1 doubt not, have fre- 
quently encountered rude trealmenl, and quite as 
frequently deserved if ; but it will at least prove the 
possibility of traversing the United Stales without 
insult or interruption, and even of being occasionally 
surprised by liberality and kindness. 

Ti)e village of Tyoga Point is placed, as its name 
denotes, at the confluence of the Tyoga and eastern 
branch of the Susquehanna, which comes down from 
the Katskiii mountains. From the heights round the 
village, the eye commands majestick views ot those 
two rivers, descending in op[>osite directions be- 
twixt their mountain shores, and pursuing their M/)i(ed 
course through a similar tract of wild and pictur- 
esque country. These hills and forests abound in 
deer, nor are wolves and bears uncommon. The 
village itself is singularly neat, containing several 
houses finished with elegance, and is altogether what 
the mind and eye desire in a country village : the 
tavern answers to the rest, being clean, cheap, and 
kept by a very civil landlady. I iialted here a day, 
to kill pheasants, and climb the mountains on the 
right bank of the Tyoga, in search of prospects, and 
ferrying over the Susquehanna, the next morning 
continued my route along its left bank, through a 
desert of rocks and forest, to Le Fevre's inn, being 
a log-hut, so denominated. — And how came Le 
Fevre in it ? 

During the disturbed period of the French revo- 
lution, a number of emigrants, several of them men 
of rank and property, purchased a tract of land on 
the Scioto, for the purpose of founding a " City of 
Refuge." In this purchase they were misled, either 
by their own want of information, or by the knavery 
of their agents ; and finding a settlement on the 
Scioto impracticable, they removed to Chemingo, 
on the Tyoga. — Here again they were not more 
fortunate ; the scanty alluvion round the fool of 
these rocky mountains, is little likely to repay hardi- 



158 BLACK ROCK TO PHILADELPHIA. 

er cuUivafors ; and for the third tijne, this wander- 
ing colony transported Kself to the risjht bank of the 
Susquehanna, betwixt VVjsall and Wyahising, and 
astonished the inhabitants by building rnanv-window- 
' ed villas, and cutting roads across the mountains to 
hunt deer and foxes. They named their village 
French-town, and consi»Jering its barren site, it is 
probable they must have shortly resolved on a fourth 
pilgrimage, when change of circumstances enabled 
them to return to France, leaving their airy halls to 
be tenanted by crows, and wondered at by all the 
farmers in the neighbourhood. One family, how- 
ever remained behind, and crossing the river, to 
avoid starvation, set up this litte inn. The nauie of 
this family is Le Fevre ; not Sterne's Le Fevre ; 
neither withered greatness, nor heart-broken merit, — 
yet one whose present situation seetns no less for- 
cibly contrasted with their former habits of life, than 
that of King Joseph himself. The keeper of a 
Cqff't Anglaise h Paris, set down among the wild- 
est regions of the Alleghany, removed miles from 
any thing resembling a village ; and, to judge from 
the rude country round him, almost beyond the ken 
of civilized life: — yet well may he, (or rather his 
wife,) answer, ♦' no matter where, so I be still the 
same, and what I should be;" for so it was: the 
gay courtesy of France was flourishing as cheerily 
on this desolate spot, as in its native atmosphere of 
Versailles. Madame was turned of fifty by her 
look, short, strongly pock-marked, with a snub nose 
flattened to her face ; altogether so little of a beauty, 
that she passed in the neighbourhood, that is, with- 
in the adjacent \wen\y miles, for a strong likeness 
to a toothless superannuated Poodle, belonging to 
a tavern on the road; but her manner was, "fo«f « 
fait, a la Parisienne.^^ Dinner was in prepara- 
tion, within a few minutes after ray arrival, and her 
own history narrated during the process. F asked 
her if she had no wish to return to her native coun- 



BLACK ROCK TO PHILADELPHIA. 159 

try: "Ah no," she replied, "one's country is al- 
ways where one can live :" she was as contenfed as 
if she had been cradled in the desarl. During din- 
ner, Monsieur came in, and having quietly made bis 
bow, was deposited in the chimney corner, whence 
he was again in due time passively transferred to 
bed : it was evident he had acquired little knowledge 
of the "rights of man," siuce his donieslicalion in a 
republick : in fact, neither he nor his wife under- 
stood a word of English : but she despised the Ameri- 
cans for their ignorance of etiquette, and of the legi- 
timate mode of fricaseeing a chicken. The mother's 
prejudices, however, did not seem to have extended 
to her family, which consisted of two daughters, one 
of whom had married an American farmer, on the 
opposite side of the river ; whilst the other, an inter- 
esting sprightly lass of seventeen, filled the offices 
of interpreter, chambermaid, and waiter, to the hotel ; 
milked the cows, and looked after the pigs and poul- 
try. In all this, she was the soul of gayety ; plea- 
sure seemed to gush from the fountain of her natu- 
ral spirit, and s"he was evidently best satisfied with 
herself, when she saw others satisfied; a striking 
contrast to American girls in the same sphere of 
life. By these the traveller is received with cloudy 
sulkiness, or at least with phlegmatick indifference; 
their attendance is as mechanically cold as must 
have been that of the domeslick statues of Vulcan's 
household : one would say water circulated in their 
veins instead of blood. True it is, this frost of the 
spirits checks the plant seemingly indigenous in the 
female bovorn, — vanity ; but woman's vanity is the 
parent of so much Ihat is loveliest in her, that it is 
ill exchanged for the unaffected iiisticity of vulgar 
life. Do you inquire of these damsels for refresh- 
ment, the odds are, that you are answered by a kind 
of monosyllabick grunt, or some such delicatie phrase 
as " Mother, the man wants to eat ;" — and the eter- 
nal process of frying* beefstakes commences. This 
unengaging manner seems the characteristic k of the 



160 ULACK ROCK TO PHILADELPHIA. 

lower classes of American females. The married 
women are, 1 Ihink, a shade snikier than the single, 
but the difference is very trifling. The men, al- 
though little chargeable with an excess of ga} ety, 
have more vivacity of manner than the women ; and 
as there are few of them who are not well-informed, 
(at least on local subjects,) they have altogether 
more advantac^e over their fair moiietis, in the mere 
agremeas of society, than men usually possess. 

The baiiks of the Susquehanna have no great va- 
riety of scenery, though they frequently present 
grand features. The space betwixt the mountains 
and tiie river, is often so narrow, that it barely suffi- 
ces for one carriage, and in many places the road, 
for a mile or two, seems to have been hewn from the 
rock : sho»ild two carriages meet in one of these pas- 
ses, it is difficult to imagine by what contrivance 
thoy could be extricated; the population of this tract 
of country is, however, so scanty, that a dilemma of 
this kind would be a phenomenon in travelling. Oc- 
casionally round the creeks, there is some tolerable 
land, and two or three pleasant villages ; among 
which, Wyahising may, perhaps, image out what 
Wyoming was ; but it cannot be said that the deer 
" unhunted seeks his woods and wilderness again ;" 
— for I heard a cry of hounds as I stopped to 
breakfast, and the game was swimming the river. 
The face of the landscape is no where bare : moun- 
tain and vale are alike cloathed with pine, and dwarf 
or scrub oak ; the swamp lands are covered with 
hemlock, and the bottoms of the woods with the 
rhododendron. I was informed that land in this 
part of the country, though naturally very poor, had 
been so much improved of late by the use of gyp- 
sum, that its value was raised from five to fifteen 
dollars per acre. 

VVilkesbarre is a neat town, regularly laid out on 
the left bank of the Susquehanna. Its locality is 
determined bv the direction of one of the Allegany 
ridges, which recedes from the course of the river 



BLACK ROCK TO PHILa6elPHI A. 



161 



a (ew miles above the town, and curving S. W., 
encloses a semicircular plot of land, towards the 
centre of which it is built. lis neighbourhood 
abounds in coal.* The pits are about a mile N. E. 
of the town. They lie under strata of a soft clay- 
slate, containing; impressions of ferns, oak leaves, and 
n'her vegetables usually found in such situations. 
The coal has a bright, polished appearance ; its 
strata are slightly angular; (hey contain iron, pyrites, 
and sall-petre, and are traversed by veins of char- 
coal. The theory of the formation of coal, from de- 
cayed timber, is strengthened by a view of tfie site 
of these pits. The river A having descended S. 
E. suddenly • changes its direction just abo\e the 
town, and runs S. W. as if forced to this deviation, 
by the mountain B. Now, as all the land round the 
town, including these pits, is an alluvion, raised but 
a few feet above the present bed of the river, it is 
natural to suppose that its ancient current must have 
deposited the timber, and other substances it brought 
with it, in the angle formed by the course of the 
ridge B, i. e. in the neighbourhood of the coal 
pits C. 




,!,.,i..nn"!lll" 



* Of the kind called glance coal. 
21 



162 BLACK ROCK TO PHILADELPHIA. 

The town iself has a quiet, rural aspect, from the 
frequent separation of its streets and houses, by grass 
fields and gardens. It contains a neat church, allot- 
ted to the alternate nse of Episcopalians and Presby- 
terians. The Town Hall was occupied on the Sun- 
day of my visit by the Methodists, to whom a shoe- 
maker was expounding the doctrine of life, with 
great strength of lungs, and an energy which frequent- 
ly persuades by seeming persuaded. 

Wilkesbarre is classick ground to an English- 
man : if is built on the site of Wyoming : a small 
mound is pointed out near the river, on which stood 
the Fort; and the incursion of the Indians, when 
most of the inhabitants fell in an unsuccessful battle, 
is still remembered. Some few escaped by swim- 
ming the river, and fled naked through the woods for 
several days, till they reached the nearest settle- 
ment; — and this is all the record of Albert and Ger- 
trude. The lover of poetry, who would half realize 
the fictions of the muse, on the spot which she has glo- 
rified with the creations of her fancy, cannot help 
regretting that the bard should have helped, in some 
degree, to destroy the illusion, by introducing in his 
descriptions features of scenery as foreign to Penn- 
sylvania, as the sweetly-meditative Gertrude herself, 
who, had she been as solid a reality as any buxom 
lass of Wilkesbarre, must have been content to lack 
the bright plumage of the "Flamingo," the "palm 
trees' shade," the "aloes," and even the roaring 
•waterfall, for the falls near Wilkesbarre are ledges of 
rock, merely suflScient to break the current. — Yet 
Wyoming shall outlive the name and splendour of 
many a bloated, burgess-fattening city, "and still 
look green in song." 

Sweet Wyoming, though none be left to tell 
The beauty of thy days to future m^^n, 

How blest when peaceful Albert rul'd thy glen, 
And Gertrude was thy Qow'r, yet shall thou dwell, 



BLACK ROCK TO PHILADELPHIA. 16.'J 

And bloom through ages, for with charm and spell 
Wreaths of immortal brightness have been flung, 
(jrilding thy ruin — and a gifted shell 

Thy tale of (tesolation hath outrung 
With melodies, on which the soul reposes, 
Like eastern biilbuls o'er Cashmerian roses; — 
And bright eyes have wept o'er thee, and shall weep, 
Till nature has grown ruthless in all hearts, 
And pity, angel-plum'd, to heav'n de|)arts : 
For thou in freedom's burning field didst reap 
A deadly harvest, therefore shall ihy sleep 
Be hallow'd, and thy name, a star o'er glory's steep. 

At Wilkesbarre the road quits the Susquehanna, 
and ascending the ridge I have mentioned, (marked^ 
the maps as mount Ararat,) crosses several heads 
of the Lehigh, through heavy forests, and hemlock 
swamps, verj sparingly interspersed with settlements. 
There is a neat inn, kept by an Englishman of the 
name of VVrag, about seventeen miles from Wilkes- 
barre ; I stopped there to dine, and could have wish- 
ed that the stage had been long enough for a day's 
journey, for I was much pleased with the looks of 
Mr. Wrag's house, and more with those of his 
daughter, on whose cheek *' the rose of England 
bloomed" luxuriantly, and more sweetly in my eye, 
for being a rose of my own country. My regret was 
not diminished when I readied by moonlight the end of 
my day's travel, on the summit of the Pokono Moun- 
tain, whose gradual declivities are bare of timber, 
more like an English heath than an American moun- 
tain. The wretched auberge was undergoing a refit, 
which left but one dirty little tap-room to sit in, and 
a half-finished chamber, through which the night 
breezes sang cheerily : the fare was bad in proportion, 
and the landlady's temper in unison with the whole ; 
though an old croney of the house whispered me in 
the morning, that it was beyond comparison the best 
tavern on the road. 



164 BLACK ROCK TO PHILADELPHIA. 

The Pokono Mountain is famous among the spor/s- 
men and epicures of Philadelphia for its gions^e : 
like all the Alleghany r.idges, if is steepest on the 
eastern side. I passed the Blue Ridge at the stu- 
pendous fissure of the Wind Gap,* where the mntin- 
tain seems forcibly broken through, and is efreued 
•with the ruin of rocks. There is a similar aperture 
some miles N. E. called the Water Gap ; which af- 
forfls a passage to the Delaware. All the principal 
rivers of the States, which rise in the Allegbanies, 
pass through similar apertures, a peculiaritj I had 
afterwards an opportunity of observing in the passage 
of the Potomac. Betwixt the Blue Kidge and the 
Lehigh the road traverses the Limestone Valley, de- 
scribed by Volney, t. i. p. 65'., but which he seems 
erroneously to circumscribe by the Blue Ridge, and 
the North Mountain, whereas it lies betwixt the 
Blue Ridge and the Lehigh Ridsre, as he himself in- 
dicates by the names ot Easfon, Bethlehem, and Naza- 
reth, within its limit. The two latter are Moiavian 
settlements : there is a third about a mile and a half 
from Nazareth, which, though small, exceeds both 
the others, in my opinion, in the calm and pensive 
beauty of its appearance. The houses, like all with- 
in its valley, are built of limestone : they are all 
upon a similar plan, and have their window-frames, 
doors, &c. painted of a fawn-colour : before each 
are planted weeping willows, whose luxuriant shade 
seems to shut out worldly glare, and throws an air of 
monasfick repose over the whole village. 

Mr. Morse, in his description of Pennsylvania, has 
given a detailed account of the Moravian settlements ; 
and the inimitable pen of Mad. de Slael has reveal- 
ed, and perhaps adorned, the spirit of their institu- 
tions. (De L'Allemagne, t. iii. p. iv. c. 3. Du culte 
des Ereres Moraves.") I transcribe a single pas- 
sage, for the faithful picture it presents : 

* GraDuIar quartz seems the predominating rock at this gap. 



BLACK ROCK TO PHILADELPHIA. 165 

" Les inaisons et les rues sont d'tjne prO|)re(e parfaile : 
Les iVmmes, loules luibiiiees de meme, cachent ieiir che- 
veux, et ceigneiil leur tele avec un ruban <lont lescouleiirs 
iii(li(|i)eiit si elles soiit m iriees, filles ou veuves : lea liom- 
mes pout veins de biun, a peu pres comme les Quakers. 
Uiie iiulustrie mercantile les occupe presque tous ; mais 
OD n'eiileud pas le moindre bruit dans la village. Chacuu 
travaille avec regularite et trariquiilite ; et raclion inleri- 
eure des sentiments religieux appaise toule autre mouve- 
ment." 

I had not an opporlunity of witnessing their church 
service, which is, as she describes, celebrated with 
singing, and a band of wind instruments, but I at- 
tended a meeting which the inhabitants of Bethle- 
hem commonly hold every evening, in an apartment 
adjoining the church, for the joint purposes of 
amusement and devotion. The women were ranged 
at one end of the room, the men at the other: (heir 
bishop presided ; — but let me not mislead by the 
term ; he had not so much as a wig, wheiewith to 
support his Episcopal dignity, but was an old man, 
drest in the plainest manner, with a countenance sin- 
gularly mild and placid : Paul Veronese might have 
chosen him for the " beloved disciple," only a little ad- 
vanced in years — he gave out the psalm, and led the 
quire : the singing was alternately in German and En- 
glish, and I have still the good Bishop's voice in my 
ear, when he gave out, 

" O delightful, past expression, 
" My Redeemer died for me." 

If is an idle question, and yet one likely enough 
to obtrude itself, " what would become of the world 
were all its inhabitants Moravians?" The breath of 
the passions would ha\e i eased to stir the ocean of 
life : arts of general ulilily would proceed without 
the check of many of our liabils : disease would gra- 
dually yield to sclent ifirk in^provements, and the 
temperate enjoyment of plenty : also, as morsl and 
prudential restraints would have their full effect, the 



166 BLACK ROCK OF PHILADELPHIA. 

increase of population would be constantly kept 
wi'hin the limits of subsistence. A period will 
therefore have arrived, when late marriages must be 
universal : the most aclive portion of man's life 
must in consequence be spent in leisure. — By what 
objects will his menial energies in this situation be 
excited ? Our hypothesis excludes ambition, glory 
and interest ; necessity excludes love; the former 
would desfroj the principles of a society founded 
on equality and peace ; the earl_y indulgence of the 
latter, would poison them with want. Shall the 
energies of mind be stifled, to prevent their abuse? 
they will be replaced by physical instincts, and 
brutal force. There is one object of speculation 
left in unison wilh Moravian principles, — religion: 
but in a community in which all men occupied their 
thoughts on one subject, woulfl Ibey all think aiika on 
it? or could their differences of opinion coalesce wilh 
the general tranquillily ? History is not silent on 
this point: Ihat of the Greek empire informs us 
what would be Ihe destiny of a nation of theologians : 
So that if a succession of miracles were to establish 
Moravianism, by destroying all principles of our na- 
ture hostile to its founilalion, it would require ano- 
ther succession of miracles to preserve it from sui- 
cide. 

The Lehigh mountain is the last of the Alleghany 
ridges ; the country is thenceforth level, fertile, and 
thickly inhabited by steady Germans, in broad bats, 
and purple breeches, whose houses and villages have 
the antique fashion of a Flemish landscape. Ger- 
man is so generally spoken, Ihat the newspapers, and 
publick notices, are all in that language. The roads 
are of a deep miry clay, through which the country 
waggons, with their long fat teams, plod on seeming- 
ly at their ease, but it fared very differently with my 
light vehicle. The approach to Philadelphia is an- 
nounced by a good turnpike road. German-Town is 
a large suburb to the city, and the traveller here 
feels himself within the precincts of a populous and 
long established capital. 



[ 167 1 



CHAPTER XXV. 



PHILADELPHIA. 



j l.-ARCHITECTURE AND PUBLICK BUILDINGS. 

Philadelphia is as much complained of for i(s ar- 
chitectural regularity, as most other cities are for the 
reverse. Large towns have commonly grown up from 
casual and insignificant beginnings, but in planning the 
capital of a state, it would h»ve been as sini,ular an 
absurdity to have made the streets crooked, as to 
have built the houses upon models of the 13'h cen- 
tury : it is difficult to say, v^'hy rectilinear uniformity 
should be niore insi!p|>ortable than curvilinear. All 
the streets of Philadelphia are spacious ; the names of 
many of them, as Sassafras, Chesnul, Locust, &.c. re- 
cord their sylvan^origin ; and the rows of Lombardy 
poplars, with which they are shaded, seem a second 
revolution in favour of vegetation. The private 
houses are characterized by elegant neatness ; the 
steps and window sills of many of them are of grey 
marble, and have large mats placed before the doors. 
The streets are carefully swept, as well as the foot- 
paths, which are paved with brick. The shops do 
not yield in display to those of London, nor are the 
tradesman less civil and attentive. 

Of the publick buildings, few pretend to great ar- 
chilecluial merit; the churches are neat but plain ; 
that of the Baptists however has some claim to ele- 
gance of design ; it is a rotunda surn)ounted by a 
dome, which is lighted by a lanthorn, 20 feet in dia- 
meter ; there is a projection to the street, in the form 



168 PHILADELPHIA. 

of wings, separated by an lonick colonnade, which 
forms the entrance, and is crowned by two cupolas ; 
the whole is of brick ; the diameter of the rotunda is 
'JO feet, the walls are oO feet from the ground, and 
are surmounted by 4hree steps before the swell of the 
dome, which rises at an angle of 45o. Tiie building 
is calculated to hold '2,500 persons. 

The Masonick Hall is an awkward combination of 
brick and marble, in the Golhick stjie ; that is, plen- 
tifully " tricked and frounced" witii niches, pinna- 
cles, and battlements, and a spire 80 feet high. One 
would think it were easy to catch the spirit of Goth- 
ick architecture, which seems to be a combination of 
luxuriant decoration with imposing grandeur ; no ef- 
fort perfectly succeeds, which separales these quali- 
ties ; there is, perhaps, besides the meeting together 
of the awtui and the graceful, an asrsociation ot other 
feelings, connected with their union ; it supposes a 
great exertion of power in cost and labour, and ideas 
of power approximate to the sublime. Grandeur of 
design, however unadorned, and imperfect in the 
means of' doing justice to its conceptions, must still 
retain the inspiring prerogative of genius, but to lavish 
Gothick ornaments on a pigmy building, is like over- 
whelming a child with the armour of Guy, earl of 
Warwick. 

The Philadelphia bank is in the same ridiculous 
taste with the Masonick Hall, bating the absurdity of 
the spire : but the United States and Pennsylvania 
banks are the finest buildings in the city : the first 
has a handsome portico, with Corinthian columns of 
white marble, as is the front of the building. The 
Pennsylvania bank is a miniature of the temple of 
Minerva at Athens, and is the purest specimen of 
architecure in the States : the whole building is of 
marble ; the front extends 51 feet, and the entire depth 
of the building, including the front and back porticos, 
is 125 feet : the shafts of the colunns are three feet 
in diameter. The simplicity of one portico is some- 



PHILADELPHIA. 169 

what injured by windows, but the whole effect is 
highly pieasina:, and Mr. Latrobe deserves the grati- 
tude of the city for his taste in the selection of a mo- 
del, which cannot but have a favoinable effect on the 
style of future edifices. An Athenian from the 
shades could objecl litfle to the design of Jhis build- 
ing, nor would he greafly err as to the appropriation 
of what he would naturally deem a temple ; so it is ; 
the deity alone is chani;ed, Mammon lor Minerva: 
each passion of our nature has, in ils turn, been " lord 
of the ascendant ;" and temples, castles, banks, have 
in succession been consecrated by the superstition, 
and)ition, and avarice of mankind. 

The State-house is a plain brick building, finished 
in 1735, at the cost of 6000/. The noblest recollec- 
tions of America are attached to it. The Goj)gress 
sat in it during the greater part of the war, and the 
Declaration of Independence was read from its steps, 
July 4»h, J 776. The Federal Convention also sat in 
it, in I7H7. It is now occupied by the supreme and 
district courts below, and Pt-ale's musaeum above. 
This musaeum contains a collection of preserved 
birds and animals, minerals, Indian arms and dresses, 
and a long line uf ill favoured portraits, by a Mr. 
Rembrandt Peale ;* but the most interesting object 
is an entire skeleton of the Mammoth, or great Mas- 
todon, discovered by the exertions of Mr Peale, the 
founder and proprietor of the musaeum, in the State 
of New York, in 1801. His son published an account 
of if in Loiiciun (he same year; 1 extract the princi- 
pal dimensions : 



Height over the shoulders, 
Do. over the hips, 

* By tlie bye, this nominal union of the illustrious tlead with 
the ignoble living, is very bad taste. In George I'owii. there 
is a perfumer called Komulus Kiggs, and we have a Junius Bru- 
tus Booth. 

22 



Feet. 
11 


inches. 



9 






Feet. 


luches. 


13 





31 





17 


« 


5 


8 


2 


3 


4 


7 


10 


7 


1 


6 1-2 



170 ' PHILADELPHrA. 



Length from the chin to the rump, 
From the point of the tusks to the 

eutl of the tail, tollowing the 

curve, 
In a straight line, 
Width of the hips and body, 
Length of the longest vertebra. 
Of the longest rih, 
Of the tusks or horns. 
Circumference of one tooth, 
Weight of the same, 4 lb. 10 oz. 
Whole skeleton weighs 1000 lb. 

This enormous animal fabrick is placed at the end 
of una of the apartments, with several figures of men 
near it, proliabiy to mark the con<rast of their dimen- 
sions. The human stature is, indeed, pigraean be- 
side it, but there is another, and still more striking 
point, under which it may be considered. It moved 
and had its being, when all tiiat is of human institu- 
tion was not ; for though the situation and slate in 
which the bones were discovered, may lead us to con- 
clude, that the catastrophe by which its race was 
destroyed, was more recent than those revolutions of 
Nature which have disturbed the frame-work of the 
globe, it must still have been sufficiently sudden and 
violent to destroy all the living species of the earth. 
The wall-like ridges of the Alleghanies, with the gaps 
or fissures, through which the principal rivers de- 
scend at right angles to them, afford strong support 
to the hypothesis of M. Volney, that these ridges 
once inclosed lakes, which have been drained by the 
escape of the present rivers. This drain might, in- 
deed, have been affected by the gradual wearing 
through of their mountain breaches, as Lake Erie 
may, in the course of ages, be drained by the action 
of the Falls of Niagara ; in this case, however, no 
entire species of animals would have been involved 
in destruction ; each would have retired from the 
gradual swelling of the waters in its neighbourhood : 



PHILADELPHIA. l7l 

on the contrary, should this revolution have been the 
etfect of some sudden nalural convulsion, such a 
shock would have been sutiicient to destroy man and 
his works, supposing the human race to have then 
existed, and to have siven that impulsion to the At- 
lanlick, which iucrusted in polar ice the Mammoth 
ot Siberia. 



§ 2. THE FINE ARTS. 

Philadelphia contains an Academy of the Fine 
Arts, founded in 1H03 by voluntary contribution, 
and soon after incorporated by tlie Legislature. It 
has a handsome building, containing rooms for draw- 
ing and publick exhibitions. In the hall of statuary, 
besides numerous casts, are several pleasing pieces 
of Italian sculpture, particularly two Bacchantes. 
The picture-gallery contains several excellent pic- 
tures of the old masters, and a large collection of the 
modern. It is injtidicious to place them side by 
side. American artists seem to think that to paint 
largely is to paint well : much good colour and can- 
vass are thereby lost. 

It is not surprising that painting should have made 
such feeble progress, not only in America, but in 
modern Europe generally ; feeble, with reference to 
the perfection of the art, for of correct and graceful 
painting there is no want ; wealth will create so far ; 
but the sublime is the production of enthusiasm only, 
and our social system contains no qualities by which 
an artist's enthusiasm may be either inspired, or re- 
warded. It is true that many painters are correct- 
ly said to be enthusiastically fond of their profes- 
sion, as many readers are of poetry, who would not 
therefore make excellent poets : the mind, compelled 
to one occupation, will commonly become disgusted 
or devoted : habit engenders attachment ; this is 
professional enthusiasm. But there is another kind. 



172 PHILADELPHIA. 

of a more expansive and intellectual character; oc- 
cupying itself, not upon the profession, but upon the 
subjects of the profession ; and this is even more es- 
senlial than the former, in as much as (he ablest 
painter can go no further than the perfect delineation 
of l)is own conceptions; so that if these be cold or 
inadt-quate, the performance must suffer in the same 
proportion. Here seems to be the parting point be- 
twixt ancient and modern artists. We have no re- 
mains of Grecian painting, but the analogy of sculp- 
ture will illustrate my remark. The Greek statuary 
might easily persuade himself that the di\ine image 
he had cloathed with majesty and beauty, would not 
only be an object of adoration to his fellow citizens, 
but might even become the material dwelling-place 
of the Deity, whose lineaments he had worthily ex- 
pressed : while the heroes, who were indebted to the 
gratitude of their countrymen, for a seat among the 
immortals, must be contented to owe to his chisel the 
form and features of their divinized existence. If 
the ancients deified human nature, their artists and 
poets were the high-priests of the apotheosis. 

The great burst of talent with which painting has 
adorned the Christian world, shewed itself in Italy : 
the Christian mythology supplied the place of the 
gods of Paganism ; saints and martyrs that of Her- 
cules and Theseus ; b«it the strength of enthusiasm 
was the same, and perhaps more nearly similar than 
the Protestant inhabitants of Northern Eiuope may 
be able readily to imagine. It is a well known anec- 
dote, that painters frequently partook of the sacra- 
ment before they began an altar-piece : their finest 
paintings were, in fact, religious offerings ; and they 
who patronized and applauded, as well as they who 
painted, had alike kindled the altars of their taste 
with the fires of religious zeal. The spiritualized 
creed of Protestantism disembodied the whole Po- 
pish mythology : credulity was forced into new 
channels, and the artist who should attempt to re- 



PHILADELPHIA. 173 

animate Ihe images of a belief no longer fashionable, 
would feel his spirit chilled in the ungenial atmos- 
phere ; and speedily learn to exchange the delinea- 
tion of Madonnas, (whose virgin purity some are 
irreverent enough to smile at, and almost all are con- 
tent coldly to assent to,) for the more lucrative em- 
ployment of flattering living beauty: hence it 'is 
that our exhibitions blaze with ladies of quality, 
officers of hussars, gentlemen in arm-chairs, and 
other equally 

" Vain attempts to give a deathless lot 
"To names by Nature born to be forgot." 

It is true that there is enough of religion at pre- 
sent in America, but it is, for the most part, of tkat 
sour Calvinistick kind which would da>nn St. Cecilia 
for a "pianoforte playing strumpet," and put the 
whole celestial hierarchy into snuft-coloured suits, 
and high bibs and tuckers. 

Nor are the publick and political events of mo- 
dern times less unpropilious to the artist's pencil ; 
the Athenian, or Roman painters addrest their per- 
formances to the whole civilized world, for what 
was there of civilization which had not bowed to the 
arts or arms of these nations ? Their gods were the 
gods of the universe: their publick transactions de- 
cided the fate of all naiions, not barbarians. The 
modern painter must expect that the event which 
he selects as interesting to his own nation, will be 
regarded at best with indifference, perhaps with 
disgust, by nine-tenths of the rest of mankind. 
There are besides very few publick events sus- 
ceptible of picturesque eflfect : the business of go- 
vernment is no longer transacted in a publick forum, 
before the assembled people, with all the accesso- 
ries of eloquence, passion, and religion : the artist 
must now grope his way into the ministerial closet, 
tbence to extract well-drest heads, from which feel- 



174 PHILADELPHIA. 

ing never shook tlie powder, and transplant to his 
canvass rows of vacant, or kingly coiniieriances, 
looking over the partitioning of kingdoms, with snch 
an air as easy grocers cast up their ledgers. All is 
calculation; and how can calculation be painted? 
Take two or three subjects from Roman history by 
way of contrast : — I. Horatius Codes singly de- 
fending the bridge of the Janicuhun. — His coun- 
trymen are at work behind him, breaking down the 
bridge, on the destruction of which hangs (he fate 
of the youthful republick. Shame to be thus held 
in check by a single warriour, a sense of (he impor- 
tance of gaining (he pas? ere the Romans have com- 
pleted their work, have urged on the Etruscans to 
surround (heir adversary: his shield is already stuck 
full*V3f (heir darts, and (hey are beginning, by bodily 
s(reng(h, to force liim froai his post: at (his in- 
stant, the crasli of the broken bridsje, and (he joyful 
shout of (he Romans, for a moment check (heir attack : 
(hen Codes eKclaims, " O fa(her Tiber, I entreat 
of thy Di'ity propitiously to receive these arms, 
and this thy soldier to (hy streain." — 2. During 
(he siege of Rome by the Gauls, Q,uintus Fabius 
Djrso passes through the midst of their army, in a 
sacrificial habit, bearing the sacred vessels in his 
hands, to perform the rites of his family on the 
Collis Q,iiirinalis, "Livii Hist. I. v. c. 46." — Some 
of the Gauls seek to terrify him with menacing 
gestures; some point him out, with astonishment at 
his audacity ; others regard him with a religious re- 
verence. — 3. The death of Brutus, as described by 
Velleius Paterculus. His left arm is raised, and 
thrown back above his head ; his right hand guides 
the sword's point (o his heart : the averted coun(e- 
nance and hesitating posture of his freedman, con- 
trast with the resolved and energetick attitude of the 
hero. — Of modern' incidents, battles seem to be most 
capable of picturesque effect ; yet here the artist 
encounters difficulties of no trifling kind. The chief 



PHILADELPHIA. ITS 

interest is attached to the leader, who must conse- 
quendj' occupy Ihe centre of the painting ; but a 
general officer and his staff" are precisely llie least 
picturesque, because the most inactive objects in 
the whole army. To represent a great degree of 
perturbation, would be to indicate a want of self- 
possession : llie painter is therefore reduced to a 
kind of gron[)ing, rendered almost ridiculous by re- 
petition : the general's extended right aim, his white 
horse's corresponding raised leg, an aid-decamp 
with his hat off', on the gallop, have become the ine- 
vitable common places of battle-pieces. Our battles 
are well suited to panoramas, because, though they 
have much uniformity in the detail, they liave more 
variety in the loiit-ensemhle, than those of the an- 
cients. 

In addition to these general disadvantages, paint- 
ing in Atnerica has some peculiar obstacles to con- 
tend with. The more equal division of wealth 
leaves a less surplus to be expended ii; the luxury 
of the arts: the equal division of inheritiinces places 
almost every man in the necessity of haAing re- 
course to commerce, or a profession : we conseqi.ently 
find neither the idieness which ergenders dissipa- 
tion, nor the leisure which creates taste.* Again, 
industry has too many safe roads to con petence, 
(o induce any considerable number of men of talents 
to embarked in a profession, whose lonours, like a 
guf*<lon of chivalry, are rendeied dearer to the suc- 
cesslui Nnv, by the many sacrificed in the {d^erfnre. 
Thus the very advantages of America tuin {.gainst 
the arts ; nor would it, peihaps, be refining too far to 
observe, that the tendency observable in Americans 
towards logical analysis, the natural result of their 
education and government, though extremely useful 
in the business of life, is not equally favourable to the 

* I «peak nationally ; llirre are, of coiirFe, individuals wbo 
form eiceptioiis to both branches of the corolJary. 



IT6 PHILADELPHIA. 

arts; the excellence of which, to be rightly judged, 
must he powertully felt; whereas, to think coirectly 
on all subjects, is to feel strongly on none. In fine, 
America may justly expect a brillant success in what- 
ever relates to the useful sciences, in mechanical in- 
ventions, and all the arts by which her immense terri- 
tory, and active population may be most abvanta- 
geously employed ; but the ideal world is not included 
in her domain ; it has, perhaps in mercy, been assign- 
ed to those nations which have learned to feel, by 
being compelled to suft'er. 



§ 3. — SOCIETY. 

"When musick and the fine arts," (says the Mar- 
quis de Chastellux, and a Frenchman must be allowed 
a voice on such sul)jec(s,) " come to prosper in Phila- 
delphia; when society once becomes easy and gay, 
and they learn to accept of pleasure when it presents 
itself, without a formal invitation ; then may foreigners 
enjoy all the advantages peculiar to their manners 
and government, without envying any thing in Eu- 
rope." To which his translator subjoins, by wa}- 
of commentary ;" It is very certain, that any person 
educated in Europe, and accustomed to the luxury 
of musick ami the fine arts, and to their enjoyment 
in the two capitals of France and England, must find 
a great void in these particulars in America." — A 
lapse of thirty-five years has not diminished the truth 
of these observations. Society in Phihulelphia, (and 
what may be said on this point, with regard to Phila- 
delphia, applies with double force to all other parts 
of America,) is yet in its infancy. By society, 1 
mean the art of combining social qualities, so as to 
produce the highest degree of rrtional enjo\ ment ; 
this supposes a common stock of ideas, on subjects 
generally interesting, and a manner of giving them 
«•' — "lotion, by which the self-love of each may be at 



FHILADELPHIA. 177 

once roused, and safisfied. Publick amusements, the 
ails, such . liter. iiv and [diilosophical I<)|mcs as require 
tas'e and seii*iliilil y, wiilioiit siipposing a fatiguing 
dt*plh of eriRlitiori, a inoralily rather graceful than 
austere, and a total absence of dogiuatisiu on all sub- 
jects, constilule many of (he materials for such an 
interrourse. In Philadclpiiia, publick amusements 
are nothing; (he fine arls lil(!e considered, because 
eveiv u:an is sufficiently occupied with his own busi- 
ness ; [or (lie same reason, (piestions of mere specula- 
tiiwi in iilerature or philosophy would be looked upon 
as a waste of time ; in morality, ever^' thing is pre- 
cise ; in reliiiion, all is dogma. It may seem strange, 
that a people so ger.erally well informed as the Ame- 
ricans, should be so liltle sensilde to literary eiijoy- 
meuts : not less curious is it, tliat the freest people 
upon earth should be straight-laced in morality, and 
dogmatical in religion : a moment's consideration wdl 
soi\e this sceir.ing inconsistency. Tl»e Americans 
read for improvement, and to make a practical appli- 
cation of their knowledge: they collect honey for the 
hive, not to lavish its sweetness in social intercourse ; 
hence the form is less considered than the matter; 
but it is the form which is principally the subject of 
taste. There is besides, a principle of economy 
running through every <lepartment of society in the 
States : it is a saving of time, rather to import books 
than lo write them ; hence, there is no class of authors, 
no literary emulation : criticism loses its interest when 
confined to the pro luctions of foreigners ; they may 
be read for pront or amusement, but (hey cannot be 
discussed, either in (heir faults or beaudes, with (he 
feeling inspired by the writings of compatriots, whose 
reputation every member of society feels as connect- 
ed with his own, and their glory as par( of l)is patri- 
mouv. Again, piquancy in conversation supposes a 
certain persiflage, a latitude in opinion, which allows 
everv 'hiug to be sai«i on every subject, provitled it 
be said well : this kind of freedom, which appertains 

23 



f 



I 



17S PHrLADELPHIA. 

perhaps, to a corrnplioii of existing institutions, is 
singularly inapplicable lo a country, in which all 
moral duties are posilive ; and whatever is positive 
admits neither of speculation nor discussion. 

Relii^ious toleration has produced in America an 
eflfect, which though natinal, is curiously the reverse 
of what the advocates for a church, " hy law es- 
tablished," coiniuouly predict. A uionopolv, either 
in trade or religion, goes far to pioduce stagnation 
and decrement ; ubi una, ibi nulla. — Zeal ci.oLs, 
and faith decays, under the indolent go>ernance of 
chartered pastors, with whoju such external compli- 
ance, as will assure them on the score of feujporals, 
may beexpecteii to form the chief part of their anxie- 
ty. When the mosiopoly is entirely close, the 
few in whose minds reason contiuues lo assert her 
rights, have no resource, but in such positive infideli- 
ty as will permit those outward compliances, which an 
heretical belief would regard as cri ninal. A free com- 
petition, on the contrary, not only stimulates the 
zeal of all, because ona sect has no advantage over 
another, except what it acquires by its own exertions, 
but in the many shades of belief it offers to the pub- 
lic choice, there are (ew so fastidious as not to find 
some colour suitable to their own complexion ; and 
as every proselyte is a genuine victory, the stray 
sheep from one fold are very quickly caught up and 
penned in another. There are forty-two chinches in 
Philadelphia : Roman Catholick, Episcopaliasi, Pres- 
byterian, Quaker, Free Quaker, Swedish Lutheran, 
German Lutheran, German Reformed, Associate, 
Associate Reformed, Covenanters, Methodists, Chris- 
tian church, Moravian, Universalist, Independent, 
Unitarian, Jewish. To fall in with none of these, 
would indicate a surprising eccentricity of character, 
not likely to meet with much indulgence ; and hav- 
ing chosen one, the American would consider, that, 
like a trade, it was seriously to be followed, and no 
longer speculated upon. 



PHILADELPHIA. 179 

PolKicks are, indeed, a subject of high interest, 
whether in action or speculation, but for this verj 
reason they are scarcely a fit topicic for social relaxa- 
tion : they are a part of evevy man's tiusiness, and 
are discussed as such : a pleaure too, which excludes 
the fe(nale half of society, scarcely belongs to the 
class of sociiil enjoyments, yet the interest it excites, 
Will probably long render the Americans careless of 
the lighter beauties of conversational pleasure. 

I proceed to consider the manner necessary to 
give society its perfect grace. " All the politeness 
of the A'uericans," observes the JVlarquis de Chas- 
tellux, " is mere tbrm, such as drinking health to the 
company, observin;^ ranks, giving up the right hand, 
&c. but they do nothing of this, but what lias been 
taught their; not a particle of it is the result of sen- 
timent : in a worti, politeness here, is like religion 
in Italy, every thing in practice, but without any 
principle." I have myself seen a lad handing two 
young women out of a pot-hoii^e into the stage wag- 
gon, with all the gravity of a Master of the Ceremo- 
nies at Bath : in fact, this varnish is used to cover 
manners very frequently vulgar, and very rarely 
elegant. Manners to be vulgar must be affected; 
the meanest In<lian is a gentleman, because he is 
composed and natural ; add a desire to please, and 
you have all that society requires. A Frenchman is 
as anxious to please as he appears, because his 
vanity is gratified by success; his politeness is 
the natural expression of this anxiety, and plea- 
ses, as something natural. The American, on 
the contrary, silent and reflecting, occupies him- 
self very little with the effect of what he says ; 
^^ Br tiler dans la Societe,^^ is to him an unmean- 
ing phrase ; bis politeness is, therefore, no re- 
flexion of his feelings, but an artificial form he has 
borrowed, to hide a vacuum : — and what should have 
induced a sensible people to borrow a trapping so 
unsuited to their character? The vanity probably, 
to rival the nations of £urope, in manners, as well 



180 PHILADELPHIA. 

as in arts and power : Ihe French led ihe ton in 
fa«ihioiis ; and accitieiit gave. French fashions a dou- 
ble advantage in America : but they made the mis- 
take of the noblfl'nan, who j>uichased Punch, and 
then wondered he exhibited none of (he feais which 
had dehghled hiin, while in possession of liie show- 
man : — but I mistake ; they have no such astonish- 
ment ; they believe, he actually does exhibit them 
all. 

I have proceeded too far in the discussion of man- 
ners without introducing the ladies, who have so 
great a share in forming them. Their cheeks may 
redden, perhaps, at my bard sayings, but 1 offer to 
replace their wreaths of tinsel, with chaplefs of pearls. 
Women bear a high rate in the American market, 
because they are scarce in proportion to the demand, 
in a country, where all men marry,* and marry young ; 
consequently they are not called upon, to make great 
exertions to captivate ; they can do without striking 
accomplishments, and, to recur to a trading maxim, 
which they will very well understand, there will sel- 
dom be more of a commodity raised for market, than 
the consumption calls for. Female accomplishments 
are consequently in the same predicament with n)ale 
politeness ; they are cultivated upon a principle of 
vanity, to imitate the ladies of Europe; but lliey 
seldom enrich the understanding, or give elegance 
to the manners: — like the men, the ladies tall into 
the mistake of confounding fashions with manners, 
and think they import Parisian graces with Parisian 
bonnets : nay, this is little, they have improved the 
commodity : " The Afuerican ladies," as 1 have heard 
an American lady modestly obseive, "unite French 
grace with English modesty." Happy combination, 
did it not neutralize the whole compound ! Let us 
view them in their perihelion, at a ball or assembly. 
Chairs are arranged in a close semi-circle; the ladies 
file into the room, and silently take their seats beside 
each other, the men occupying the chord of the segment, 



PHILADELPHIA. 181 

vis a-vls to fheir fair foes, (for such their cautious 
di-«!ance and rare coininiinioalion would indicate Ihein 
to be : ) the men in (his situation discuss trade and 
pohticks ; the Indies, fashions and domeslick incidents, 
wilii all the quiet alui gra\ity beconiing tlie solcmui- 
ty of (he meeting : tea and co/f^e are handed about, 
and in due process of (itne, cakes and lemonade, 
&c. : should there be no danring, the forces draw 
off, af.'er having for se\eral hours thus reconnoitred 
eai;h other. When they dance, the men step tor- 
ward, and, niore by gesture than word, indicate their 
wishes to their fair partners: Coliliioiis then com- 
mence, with a gravity and perseverance ainiost piia- 
ble, "Dancing," says the Mdrquis de Chasleiiux, 
is .said to be at once the embh;ni of ga_) eiy and of 
love : here it seerns to be the "emblem of legislation 
and marriage." The animation displaced by the 
feet never finds its way into the counrenance, to light 
up the eye, or deepen the rose on the cheek, 

Which hangs in chill and lifeless lustre tliere, 
Like a red oak-leaf iu the wintrj air ; 
While the blue eye above it coldly beams, 
Like mooDligbt radiance upon frozen streams. 

One conceives, on these occasions, how dancing 
ma}' become, as it is among the Shakers, a religious 
ceremony. M. Volney is inclined to deduce from 
the sour Presbyterianism of the first settlers in New 
England, " Le Ion ceremonienx, Vnir grave el alien- 
cienx, et loule V'eiiqnetle gnindee qui regne encore 
dans la societe des feinmes des Ktals Unis.^' Not- 
withstanding the multiplicity of sects in America, 
they all take their tone from the austerest, that they 
may lose none of the advantages resulting from the 
appearance of superiour sanctity : in this way, peo- 
ple of all (Teeds are screwed up to the pilch of Cal- 
vinistick stiffness : gallantry itself assumes a solemn 
and serious air: the God of Love has laid aside his 



182 PHILADELPHIA. 

torch and purple wins^s, and steps a merchant's clerk, 
well versed in the mysteries both of grace and 2;ain. 
Society, under these circumstances, becomes instead 
of the Feast, the Fast of Self-love. Wilh scarcely 
any communication of sentiment betwixt the sexes, 
there is no collision to strike out the sparkles of wit, 
nor any sympathy of tastes to kindle feeling, or give 
the expression of it animation. Parties separate as 
if they had performed a duty, and meet to perform 
one again. — I have thus far touched on the deficien- 
cies of American females, let me speak their praise. 
Their good qualities are of a sterling kind : good 
wives, good mothers, prudent housekeepers, they 
may bid defiance to the satirist, until they quit the 
hallowed circle of domestick virtues, to flutter heavi- 
ly on the light airs of vanity : through their affecta- 
tion only are they vulnerable. Should it be objected 
that domestick virtues alone are insufficient to give 
the human mind its fullest expansion, to produce 
a De Slael or an Edgevvorth, we may reply, that 
the energetick feelings which nourish the soul of 
genius, though to their immediate possessor they 
may, according to circumstances, be productive 
either of pain or pleasure, yet in their general growth, 
are invariably attached to a state of social suflfering : 
there must be a war of elements to engender the 
thunderbolt. In America life moves evenly, for 
every one is thriving in his proper place. Misfor- 
tune, when it occurs, as where does it not ? flows 
from individual miscalculation, and has, therefore, 
none of the solemn character of fatality, which it 
bears in asocial system, more defectively organized. 
Whatever has been observed with regard to socie- 
ty in Philadelphia, and in the States generally, 
must be taken with such exceptions as all general 
observations are liable to. In all the principal towns 
small circles are to be met with, in which animated 
conversation, polished and easy manners, leave no- 



PHILADELPHIA. 183 

Uiing to be desired, but that they should be more 
common. The Americans have, in general, a friend- 
liness of manner whith could not fail to please, would 
they let (he stream take its natural course, without 
torturing it into arliticial je/s d' ean. With this feel- 
ing I have been often tempted to consider the farmers 
of the back-woods the politest class of people in the 
States, because (heir manners spring from the (rue 
source, (heir feelings. 

To a stranger, Philadelphia is a less agreeable resi- 
dence (han most other cities of the Union, for the 
same reasons which render it more agreeable (o the 
inhabitants. Its social circle is larger, and conse- 
quently less needs (he aid of strangers: it is besides 
less exclusively commercial, and therefore less in the 
habit of shewing (hem hospitality. 



§ 4. GAOL AND PENAL CODE. 

The Philadelphia prison Is a more interesting ob- 
ject to humanity than the most gorgeous palaces : it 
presents the practical application of principles which 
worldly men have derided, and philosophy has up- 
held, without daring to hope for their adoption. The 
exteriour of the building is simp'e, with rather (he air 
of an hospi(al (han a gaol: a single grated door sepa- 
rates the interiour from the street. On en(ering (he 
cour(-yard I found it full of stone-cutters, employed 
in sawing and preparing large blocks of stone and 
marble; smiths' forges were a( work on one side of 
it, and the whole court is surrounded by a gallery 
and double tier of work shops, in which were brush- 
makers, tailors, shoemakers, weavers, all at their 
several occupadons, labouring, no( only (o defray (o 
the publick (he expences of their cofifinemen(, but to 
provide the means of their own honest subsistence for 
the future. I passed through the shops, and paused 
a moment in the gallery to look down on the scene 



184 PHILADELPHIA. 

below : il had none of ihe usual features of a prison- 
liouse, neither the hardened profligacy which scoffs 
down its own serjse of <i;tnit, nor the hollow-eyed sor- 
row which wastes in a living; death of unavailing expia- 
tion : there was neither the clank of chains, nor yell 
of execration, but a hard-workini^ body of men, who 
thon>i;h seperated by justice from society, were not 
supposed to have lost the distinctive attribute of hu- 
man nature: they were trealetl as rational beings, 
operated upon by rational motives, and repaj ing 
this treatdient by impioved habils, by indnstry and 
subnission : (hey had been prodigate, they were sober 
and decent in behaviour; tbev had been idle, they 
we'-e ac'ivelv and usefally employed; they had diso- 
beyed the laws, they submitted (armed as they were 
with all kind of utensils) to the goveinaient of a single 
turnkey, and the barrier of a single grating. The 
miiacle which worked a!! this was humanity, addres- 
sing their self-love through their reason. I en\ied 
America this system : I felt a pang that my own 
country had neither the glory to have invented, nor 
the emulation to have adopted it. — I borrow the de- 
tail of its history and regulations from "the Picture of 
Philadelphia," pnblished by Dr. James Mease, 1811. 
History. — By the code of laws, framed by Wil- 
liam Penn, the punishment of death was abiogated in 
all cases, except " wilful and premedi'ated murder 
where il was admitted in obedier)ce to the will of 
God." These hu/nane and Christian laws, when 
transmitted to England, were all repealed by the 
Queen in council, but were immediately re-enacted, 
and continued till the year IT 18, the epoch of Penn's 
death: the penal code of England was then revived. 
The constitution of Pennsylvania, formed upon the 
declaration of independence, directed, in one of its 
first provisions, '• the Legislature to proceed to the 
reformation of the penal laws, and to invent punish- 
ments less sangiiinarv, and better proportioned to the 
various degrees of criminality." In 1786, when the 



PHILADELPHIA. 



185 



close of the war left leisure for inlernal improve- 
menfs, an affempt was made fo Ihis end, by couimul- 
ing the punishment of death for thai of hard labour, 
in some cases which had before been capital : this la- 
bour, however, was publick, and was soon disrcover- 
ed to attain none of the desirable ends of punish- 
ment ; hardening, ralher (han refoiming (he crinnnal ; 
and creating, in the publick mind, commiseration for 
the suffering, rather than abhorrence of the criu)e. In 
178r, Dr. Hush, who had, for several years, borne 
testimony against the syslem of publick punishments, 
read a paper at a society for political inquiries, held 
iat the house of the venerable Franklin, entitled, " An 
Enquiry into the Influence of publick Punishments 
on Criminals and Society ;" — which was afterwards 
published. In this, he exposed the errours and mis- 
chief of the penal laws thai had been recently passed, 
and proposed that all punishments should be private, 
and that they should consist of confinement, different 
kinds of labour, low diet, and soliiude, accompanied 
by religious instruction. The principles contained 
in this pamphlet were opposed with acrimony and 
ridicule, in the newspapers. They were considered 
as the schemes of a humane heart, but wild and 
visionary imagination, such as it was impossible, from 
the nature of man, and the constitution of his mind, 
ever to realize. Notwithstanding, however, a most 
powerful opposition, the law was repealed, after it 
had, by a continuance of three years, proved the cor- 
rectness of the arguments which had been urged 
against it. In place of publick punishment, hard la- 
bour in private, fine, solitary imprisonment, and low 
diet, were substituted ; and inspectors were appoint- 
ed, to carry the provisions of the act into execution. 
In 1788, Dr. Rush published a second pamphlet, 
entitled " An Enquiry into the Justice and Policy of 
punishing Murder by Death." In 1793, Mr. Brad- 
ford, the Attorney-General of Pennsylvania, publish- 
ed " An Enquiry how far the Punishment of Death 
24 



186 PHILADELPHIA. 

is necessary in Pennsylvania," wifh documents from 
the criminal courts of ihe slafe, calculaled to enfoice 
the principles laid down by Dr. Rush. An account 
of the gaol was added, by Caleb Lowndes, one of 
the inspectors of the prison. At the following ses- 
sion of the Legislature, the punishment of death was 
abolished for all crimes except murder of the first de- 
gree ; and a motion was made, during the session of 
1809, to abolish it aUooether. 

Regulations and Government. — The gentlemen 
who first undertook the task of inspectors, encoun- 
tered considerable opposition from those who had, or 
imagined they had, an interest in the abuses of the 
old system. The gaoler had grown rich by gaol 
fees, the sale of liquors, and similar perquisites, and 
was naturally a decided enemy to innovation. The 
prisoners on being inforn)ed that their former habits 
of indolence and drunkenness were to be replaced 
by labour and sobriety, took alarm, and on the eve- 
ning of the first day on which the experiment was 
tried, made a desperate effort to escape ; but upon 
the restoration of order, the adoption of mild but 
decided conduct, ultimately secured the most per- 
fect obedience. The prisoners were informed, " that 
their treatment would depend upon their conduct, 
and that those who evinced a disposition that would 
afford encoiuagement to believe they might be re- 
stored to liberty, should be recommended for a par- 
don, but if convicted again, the law in its fullest rigour 
would be carried into effect against them." A 
change was early visible ; they were encouraged to 
labour ; their good conduct was remarked ; many 
were pardoned ; and before one year was expired, 
their behaviour was ahnost without exception, de- 
cent, orderly, and respectful. The principal regula- 
tions of the present system, may be reduced to the 
following heads : 

1. Cleanliness. — The criminal on coming into the 
gaol is bathed, and cloathed in the prison dress, his 



PHILADELPHIA. 



187 



face and hands are washed daily, his linen is changed 
weekly, and he baHies (luring the summer. The 
aparluients are swept and washed once or twice a 
week. 

2. Lodging. — The prisoners lie on ihe floor in a 
blank*-.!, al)oiit thirty in one room. The hours for 
rising and retiring, are announced by a bell. A lamp 
is kept burning, so that the keeper has constantly a 
view of the apartment. 

3. Diet. — They take their meals with the greatest 
regularity, by sound of a bell : silence is en'n)ined 
while eating. For breakfast they have about ihree- 
fourths of a pound of good bread, with molitsses and 
water } at dinner, half a pound of bread and beef, 
a bortM of soup and potatoes, sometimes herrings in 
the spring ; at supper, corn meal, mush, and molas- 
ses, and sometimes boiled rice. Slight offences in 
prison are punished by a curtailment oT diet. Spi- 
rituous liquor or beer never enters the walls, nor 
are provisions permitted to be sent to the convicts. 

4. Sickness. — A room is appropriated to the sick, 
with a physician and nurses to attend them ; but the 
regularity of their lives almost secures them frooa 
disease. 

5. Religious Instruction. — Divine service is per- 
formed on Sundays, and good books are distributed. 

6. Labour. — Work suitable to ihe age and capa- 
city of the convicts is assigned, and an a('count open- 
ed with them. They are charged with their board, 
clothes, the fine imposed by the state, and expense 
of prosecution, and are credited for their work ; at 
the expiration of their time of servitude, half the 
amount of the sum, if any left, after deducting the 
charges, is paid to them. As the board is low, the 
labour constant, and the working hours greater than 
among mechanicks, they ensily earn morfe than their 
expenses. On several occasions, the balance paid 
to a convict has amounted to more than 100 dollars ; 
in one instance, it was 160 dollars, and from 10 to 



i88 PHILADELPHIA. 

• 

40 dollars are commonly paid. When, from the 
nature of the work at which the convict has been 
eniplojed, or from his weakness, his labour does not 
amount to more than the charges against him, and 
his place of residence is a distance from Philadel- 
phia, he is furnished with money sufficient to bear 
his expenses home. The price of boarding is 
16 cents (about 9d.) a-day, and ihe general cost 
of cloafhs for a year, is about 19 dollars 33 cents. 

7. Corporal punish7n€nl is prohibited on all occa- 
sions. The keepers carry no weapons, not even a 
stick. 

8. Soiitari/ covjinement. — The solitary cells are 
16 in number: their dimensions six feet by eight, 
and nine feet high ; light is admitted by a window at 
the end of the passages, and by a small window plac* 
ed above the reach of the person confined, and so 
contrived as to admit the light only from above. 
Stoves in winter are placed in the passages out of 
reach of the convicts. No conversation can take 
place betwixt the several cells, but by vociferation, 
and as this would be heard, the time of punishment 
would thereby be increased. The prisoner is there- 
fore abandoned to the gloomy society of his own re- 
flections. His food consists of only half a pound of 
bread per day. No nature has been found so stub- 
born as to hold out against this punishment, or to 
incur it a second time. Some veterans in vice, have 
declared their preference of death by the gallows, 
to a further continuance in that place of torment. 
A convict, by name Jackson, who acknowleged him- 
self to be an accomplished villain, and to have been 
in most of the gaols of the United States, was sen- 
tenced to hard labour for several years in Philadel- 
phia ; he gave much trouble, and at length escaped 
over the walls ; he was pursued to Maryland, and, 
on his way back, escaped again ; he was finally 
taken, and lodged in the cells, wliere, full of health, 
and with a mind high-toned, he boasted of his reso- 



PHILADELPHIA. Ili9 

lutiori, and of (he iinpossibilify of subduing his spirit 
or of efTecting any change in him ; but afler having 
been confined for some time, an alteration in his de- 
portment became evident, and he took occasion, when 
the inspectors were going throngh the prison, to en- 
ter into conversation with them, and inquired how an 
old comrade* in iniquity who had been long confined, 
had obtained his release fjom the cells. The reply 
was, that he promised to behave veil, i'nd had been 
put upon his honour ; " Would you trust mine ?" he 
rejoined; "Yes," was the answer, "if >cu will 
pledge it :" he did so, was relea?ed, went cheerfully 
to work, and behaved with propriety during the re- 
mainder of his time. 

9. Inspection. — Visiting inspectors attend the 
prison at least twice a week, to examine into the 
whole of its economy, hear the grievances, and de- 
ceive the petitions of the prisoners, lay leporls 
monthly before the Board of Cojitrol, and in every 
point insure the regularity of the system; particular- 
ly by watching the conduct of its subordinate agents, 
as the keepers, turnkey, &c. They are fourteen in 
number. 

Such is the outline of the system on which Penn- 
sylvania, and the States which hine Ibllowed her 
exan.ple, may securely pillow their fame.^ Objec- 
lions, however, have been raised to it : its mildness 
has been icpiesented as a temptation to crime ; yet 
crimes have diminished, sint e its adoption. " IV^ore 
persons," saj s Mr. Bradford, "were tried for larce- 
nies and burglaries, wliile these rf.erces weie cfpiial, 
than since tlie punis-l ment has 1 een lessened." I 
had heard it said that iJiefts weie conmiitted lor the 

* This man had been ronfined for six irnistbs in the cells, at 
the end ot which t'ire, hung rpniiieiciy M:ldii«d, he va? let 
out upon a soitnn pitdfe ot jicc-d letoviour, arid tliuiiic the 
rest of his time, gave no ticul le Ir il:s <as<. tit n i!d iob- 
Tersaiions and serious advice ot one ot the inspectors powertul- 
ty assisted. 



196 PHILADELPHIA- 

sake of retiirnins; to prison ; and this is so far true, 
that negroes, who have neither friends, nor means of 
gettin* their bread, have in some instances procured 
their own return to an abode in which their few wants 
are provided for ; a provision comprising all the en- 
joyments of which their lives are susceptible. This 
objection is in fact of a nature so rare and unique, 
that I doubt whether the friends of the institution 
should feel very anxious for its removal. It would, 
however, be hazardous to assert that this system is 
suited to the meridian of all nations, or rather that all 
nations are capable of receiving it : transplanted into 
many European Sfates, it would altogether change its 
character, as the torch, which is a dim speck in sun- 
shine, becomes a shining light in darkness. The pri- 
son woidd be without the walls, and innocence would 
take refuge within. In truth, liberal and humane in- 
stitutions cannot co-exist with tyranny and moral de- 
basement : they who rule by the lash, and the bayo- 
net, have incapacitated themselves from employing 
the golden weapons of humanity. 



[ 191 ] 



CHAPTER XXVI. 



PHILADELPHIA TtJ WASHINGTON. 



Darby 


7 1-4 Mile* 


Chpsfpr 


712 


Nov. 26, Nanman's Creek 


5 


Wilininglon 


7 12 


Newport 


4 


Clirisiiana 


5 12 


27, Elkton . . * 


10 


Havrp-de Grace 


16 1-2 


28, Harford Bush 


11 14 


Joppa 


6 14 


29, Baltimore 


18 1-2 


Dec. 8, Vani^ville 


25 14 


Bladpnsburg 


8 12 


9, Washington 


6 



139 



On the banks of the Schuylkill, about two miles 
from Philadelphia, there is a wild scene of rocks 
breaking the river into several rushes and falls : the 
inetallick brilliancy of these rocks, whenever their 
strata are broken up, indicates the rid^e of talkous 
granite, which Volney has traced for nearly 500 
miles, from Long Island to the Roanoke, and which 
probably extends as far as the Savannah.* It is ob- 
served to limit the tide waters by the cascades it forms 
on crossing the rivers, and to separate the barren 
sand-coast from the fertile alluvion districts above 



* I found it about Kaleigh in North Carolina, and it seems by 
the falls to croRs the Kear Hiver near Fayettville, and the 
Great Pedee noar the Ferry of Qiieenhorough. It is in some 
places composed of micaceous schistus. 



192 PHILADELPHIA TO WASHINGTON. ' 

it, sfriking fhe Delaware at Trenton, the Schuylkill 
at Philadelphia, the S.isquehanna near Oclarora 
Creek, Ihe Gtiiipo'Tder Creek near Juppi, the Pa- 
tapsco at Eikriilge, the Potomac at Georgetown, 
the Rappahaiiock near Fredericksbors;, the James at 
Riclnnood, Ihe Appafiiatos above Petersburg, and 
the Roanoke near Haiitax. The road to Washing- 
ton ioiiows the line of (his ridge, which naturally mo- 
difies the features of the country. lis apparent eleva- 
tion is inconsiderable, just sufficient to undulate the 
face of the landscape, and occasionally presenting, 
especially round streams, bolder prominences, called 
bliijfs in South Carolina. The creeks and rivers, 
wearing through a yielding soil, have frequetiMy 
their banks steep, and let the eye into deep woody 
glen^; the soil in such situations is ren^lercd fertile 
hy a mixture of clay with the sand which constitutes 
its basis.* As far as Wilmington, the stately Dela- 
ware enriches (he prospect : from thence the scenery 
is uniform, consisting of plantations, interspersed with 
©ak and pine barrens. 

The houses universally shaded with large verandas, 
seem to give notice of a southern climtfe ; the hots 
round them, open to (he elements, and void of every 
intention of comfort, tell a less pleasing tale : they in- 
for'n the traveller he has entered upon a land of mas- 
ters and slaves, and he beholds the scene marred 
with wretched dwellingg, and wretched faces. The 
eye, which for the first time looks on a slave, feels a 
painful impression : he is one for whom the laws of 
humanity arc reversed, who has known nothing of 
soci'^.ty but its injustice, nothing of his fellow man but 
his hardened, undisguised, atrocious selfishness. The 
cowering humility, the expressions of servile respect, 
with which the negro approaches the white man, 
strike on the senses, not like the courtesy of the 

* I found ab'indaace of irou-stone on this line, in blocks and 
detached masses. 



PHILADELPHIA TO WASHINGTON. 193 

French arui ftaiian peasant, giving a grace 1o pover- 
ty, but with the chilling indicadon of a crushed spi- 
rit : the somid of the lash is in his accents of submis- 
sion, and the eye which shrinEs from mine, canght its 
fear from (hal of Ihe (apk-rnasfer. Habit sleels us to 
all things, and it is nol to be expected, that objects, 
coiislantly present, sljould continue to excite the 
same sensations which ihty cause, when looked upon 
for the first time ; (and (his, perhaps, is one reason, 
why so ratich crnelly has been tolerated in the 
world ;) but whoever shonid look on a slave for the 
first time ii) his lite, with the same indifferent gaze he 
would bestow on any casual object, may triumph in 
the good fortune through which he was born free ; but 
in his heart, he is a slare, and as a moral being, de- 
graded infinitely below the negro, in whose soul the 
light of freedom has been extinguished, not by his 
own insensibility, but by Ihe tyranny of others. Did 
the miserable condition of the negro leave him mind 
for reflection, he might laugh in his chains to see how 
slavery has stricken the land with ugliness. Tlie 
smiling villages and happy population of the Eastern 
and Central states, give place to the splendid equi- 
pages of a few planters, and a wretched negro popu- 
lation, crawling among filthy hovels — for villages, 
(after crossing the Susquehanna,) there are scarcely 
any ; there are only plantations — the very name 
speaks volumes. 



25 



[ 194 ] 



CHAPTER XXVII. 



BALTIMORE. 

W' HiLE I was5 in Baltimore, I saw a sketch of the 
city, taken in 1750; it then consisted of about half 
a dozen houses, built round the landing; place : it 
now contains 50,000 ifihabifanis, and is growing 
rapidlv. Here are reckoned lo be some «)f the 
larjesf fortunes in the Union, that is, of from 500,000 
to 1,000,000 dollars. To stransers, the polish- 
ed hospiii^lify of its inlitbitants renders it a" plea- 
santer residence than Pliiladelphia. For my own 
part, though very slightly introduced, I received 
more civilities in proportion, during the week I spent 
in this city, than in the whole course of my tra- 
vels besides. Perhaps this courteous disposition is 
in a certain degree an inheritance: during the colo- 
nial regime, Annapolis was the centre of fashion to 
all America : the Governonrs of Maryland were 
commonly men of rank and faniily, who brought 
with them a taste for social elegance, which seems 
to have become the appanage of the old families, 
who, since Annapolis has fallen into decay, have 
become residents of Baltimore. The city is built 
round the bead of a bay, or inlet of the Patuxent, 
about eight miles above its jnnction with Chesapeake 
Bay. The entrance of the harbour at Gossuch 
Point is 150 yards across, and defended by a fort, 
which our fleet ineffectually bombarded during the 
war. A sand bank, about fifty feet in height, evi- 
dently the ancient boundary of the bay, forms a 
natural glacis round the town, and terminates at its 
southern extremity, in the hill of the signal post, 



BALTIMORE. 19$ 

from which Ihere is a beautiful panoraraick view of 
(he city, fort, and harbour. It was on this natural 
terre-plein the lines were constructed against our 
threatened attack. 

Tlie publick buildings of Baltimore, being all of 
brick, have little architectural beauty ; they evince 
the prosperity, and good polity, rather that the taste 
of the city. There is, however, a monument erect- 
ing to the memory of Washington, in a kind of park, 
adjoining the town ; it consists of a marble column, 
adorned with trophies in bronze: the design, like 
the man whose fame it records, is nobly simple. 
This is the first token of publick gratitude Ameri- 
ca has consecrated to her first citizen ; and, strange 
to tell, the design was set on foot, not by an Ameri- 
can ciUzen, but by an Irish exile. "^ 

Annapolis continues to be the seat of government 
for iVlAcyland. Most states choose some second- 
rate town for this purpose, to preserve their legis- 
lators, either from the seductions or the mobs of a 
great city ; though there seems to be little cause for 
alarm on either head. 

* It is ludicrous, wheuever a city corporation gives a diii- 
ner to a publick character, to see what a clutter the news- 
papers raise about " Republican Gratitude." Party zeal is 
sometimes a dreadful satirist. 



[ 196 ] 



CHAPTER XX\ III. 



WASHINGTON. 

The traveller, having passed through Bladensburg, 
on the east branch of the Patuxenf, wheie the ac- 
tion was fouiiht, which the Americans have nick- 
nar.ifd the " Bladen^bing races," crosses a sandj 
traci, interspersed with oak barrens and pine woods, 
until suddenly aio.iaiing a lit'.ie rise, close to a poor 
cottasre uith its Indian corn patch, he finds fiiuiself 
opposite to the Capitol of the Federal city. It 
stands on an ancient bank of the Patomac, about 
eighty feet above the present level of the river; 
the course of which it coniiuaiuls, as well as the ad- 
jacent oountrj", as far as the Alleghany Ridges. 
The edifice consists of two wings, intended to be 
connected by a centre, surmounted by a dome or 
cupola. The design is pure and elegant, but the 
whole building wants grandeur. Each wing would 
not be a large private mansion : the interiour has 
consequently a contracted appearance, a kind of 
economy of space tlisagreeably contrasting with the 
gigantick scale of nature wilhoul, as well as with our 
ideas of the growing magnitude of the American 
nation. The staircase, which is a kind of vestibule 
to the impression to be produced by the whole 
building, is scarcely wide enough for three persons 
to pass conveniently. The chambers of the senate 
and representatives are of very moderate dimen- 
sions, and the judgment hall, with its low-browed 
roof, and short coUitnns, seems niodelled after the 
prison of Constance in Mannion. Some of the de- 
corations, too, are of very dubious taste. Mr. La- 



WASHINGTON. lOr 

trobe lias modelled a sel of figures for the Cham- 
ber of Repiesentdlive!?, to pet sonify tiie several 
states of (he Union; but as it is not easy to tiis- 
cover an attiibute, to say nothing of a poetical cha- 
ractoi''nfi<;k, by wl>ich Connecticut may be distin- 
guished from Massachusetts, North Carolina from 
Soiith Carolina, or Kentucky from Oliio, recourse 
raMst be hul to the ungraceful expedient of a super- 
scription to point out his own tuielary saint to each 
representative. Mr. Latrobj has, in<leed, hit upon 
one device for Massachusetts; she is leading by the 
hand an ugly cub of a boy, representing Maine, which 
boy becomes a girl when Maine assumes her pro- 
per state ; — a puerile conceit. One cannot help re- 
gretting the Aineiicans should have' neglected to 
give their new Capitol a character of granc^e-ur worthy 
of their territory and ambition. Pri^ale edifices 
rise, decay, and are replaced by others of scperiour 
magnificence, as the taste or growing opulence of 
the nation require; but publick i»uilding§ should 
have a character answerable to their purpose ; they 
bear upon them the seal of the genius of the age, 
and sometimes prophetically reveal the poiititai des- 
tinies of the nations by which they are raised. 
The Romans communicated to their erections the 
durability of their empire. The Americans, in 
"(heir aspirations to be great," seem sometimes to 
look towards Roman niodelj*, but the imitation must 
be of things, not names ; or instead of a noble pa- 
rallel, they are in danger of producing a ludicrous 
contrast. 

From the foot of the Capitol hill there runs a 
straight road, (intended to be a street,) planted with 
poplars, for about two miles, to the President's house, 
a handsome stone mansion, forniiiig a conspicuous ob- 
ject from the Capitol Hill : near it are the publick 
offices, and some streets nearly filled up : about half 
a mile further is a pleasant roAV of houses, in one of 
which the President at present resides : there are a 



198 WASHINGTON. 

few tolerable houses slill fiirlher on the road <o George- 
town, and this is nearly Ihe sum total of the City 
for 1816. It used to be a joke against VVashingtbn, 
that next door neighbours must go through a wood to 
make their visits ; but the jest and forest have vanish- 
ed together: there is now scarcely a tree betwixt 
Georgetown and the Navy Yard, two miles beyond 
the Capitol, except the poplars I have mentioned, 
which may be considered as the locum tenentes of fu- 
ture houses. I doubt the policy of such thorough 
clearing ; clumps of trees are preferable objects to 
vacant spaces, and the city in its present state, being 
commenced from the extremities instead of the cen- 
tre, has a disjointed and naked appearance. The 
fiery ordeal has, however, tixt its destiny.* Land 
and houses are rising in value, new buildings are 
erecting, and with the aid of the intended university, 
there is little doubt that Washington will attain as 
great an extent as can be expected for a city possest 
of no commercial advantages, and created, not by the 
natural course of events, but by a political specula- 
tion. The plan, indeed, supposes an immense growth, 
but even if this were attainable, it seems doubtful 
how far an overgrown luxurious capital would be the 
fittest seat for learning, or even legislation. Perhaps 
the true interest of the union would rather hold 
Washington sacred to science, philosophy, and the 
arts : a spot in some degree kept holy from commer- 
cial avarice, to which the members of different states 
may repair to breathe an atmosphere untainted by lo- 
cal prejudices, and find golden leisure for pursuits and 
speculations of publick utility. Such fancies would 
be day dreams elsewhere, and are so perhaps here ; 
but America is young in the career of political life ; 

* Our expedition a2;ainst Washington had a singular fate : it 
pleased both sides. It pleased us, tor it succeeded, or seemed 
to succeed. It pleased the American government, for it pro- 
voked the spirit, by wounding the honour of the people. From 
that moment the war became national. 



VfASHINGTOK. 199 

she has the light of former ages, and the sufferings of 
the present to guide her ; she has not crushed the 
spirits of the raanj, to build up the tyranny of the few, 
and, therefore, the prophelick eye of imagination 
may dwell upon her smilingly. 

I fell into very pleasant society at Washington. 
Strangers who intend staying some days in a town, 
usually take lodgings at a boarding bouse, in prefe- 
rence to a tavern : in this way, they obtain the best 
society the place affords ; for there are always gentle- 
men, and frequently ladies, eiiher visitors or tempo- 
rary residents, who live in this manner to avoid the 
trouble of housekeeping. At Washington, during the 
sittings of Congress, the boarding houses are divided 
into messes, according to the politicaJ principles of 
the inmates, nor is a stranger admitted without some 
introduction, and the consent of the whole company. 
I chanced to join a deraocrafick mess, and name a 
few of ks members with gratitude, for the pleasure 
their society gave me : — Commodore Decatur and his 
lady, the Abbe Correa, 1he great botanist and pleni- 
potentiary of Portugal, the Secretary of the Navy, 
the Secretary of the Navy Board, known as the au- 
thor of a humorous publication, entitled "John Bull, 
and Brother Jonathan," with eight or ten members 
of Congress, principally from the Western states, 
which are generally considered as most decidedly 
hostile to England, but whom 1 did not on this account 
find less good-humoured and courteous. It is from 
thus living in dally intercourse with the leading cha- 
racters of the country, that one is enabled to judge 
with some degree of certainty of the practices of its 
government ; for to know the paper theory is nothing, 
unless it be compared wilh the instruments employed 
to carry it into effect. A political constitution may 
be nothing but a cabalistick form to extract money 
and power from the people; but then the jugglers 
must be in the dark, and '* no admittance behind the 
curtain." This way of living affords too the best in- 



200 AVASHINGTON. 

sipjhf into the best part of society ; for if in a free na- 
tion the tie[)osilaries of tlie publick confidence be ig- 
noviint, or vn'gar, it is a very fruitless search to look 
for tiie opposite qualities in those they represent; 
whereas, if these be well informed in mind and man- 
ners, it proves at the least an inclinition towards 
knoivledge and refinement, in the general mass of 
citizens, by whom they are selected. My own expe- 
rience obliges me to a favourable verdict in this par- 
ticular. I fonnd the little circle in*o which 1 had 
haj)pily Aiilen, full of good sense and good huniour, 
and never q-uitted it without feeling myself a gainer 
on the score, either of useful information or of social 
enjoyment. 

The President, or rather his lady, holds a drawing- 
room weekly, during the sitting of Congress. He 
takes by the hand those who are presented to him ; 
shaking hands being discovered in America to be 
more rational and manly tlian kissing them. For the 
rest, it is much as such things are everywhere, chat- 
ting, and tea, cofupliments and ices, a little musick, 
(some scandal, I suppose, among the ladles,) and to 
bed. Nothing in these assemblies more attracted 
my notice, than the extraordinary stature of most of 
the western members ; the room seemed filled with 
giants, among whom moderately sized men crept like 
pigmies. I know not well, to what the difference 
may be attributed, but the surprising growth of the 
inhabitants of the Western slates is matter of asto- 
nishment to those of the E,i ■stern, and of the coast line 
generally. This phenomenon, which is certainly a 
considerable stumbling-block to the Abbe Raynal's 
theor}'^, may probably be resolved into the operation 
of three positive causes, and one negative, namely^ 
plentiful but simple food, a healthy climate, constant 
exercise in the open air, and the absence of mental ir- 
ritation. In a more advanced stage of society, luxu- 
rious and sedentary habits produce in the rich that 
enfeebleoient of vitality, which scanty food, and labo- 



WASHIUeTON. 201 

rious or unwholesome occupations bring upon the 
poor. The only persons to be compared with these 
Goiiahs of the West, were six Indian chiefs from 
Georgia, Chactaws or Chickasaws, wlio, having come 
to Washington on publick business, were presented 
at Mrs. Madison's drawing-room. They had a still 
greater appearance of muscular power than the Ame- 
ricans ; and while looking on them, I comprehended 
the prowess of those ancient knights, whose single 
might held an army in check, "and made all Troy 
retire." 

The sittings of Congress are held in a temporary 
building, "during the repair of the Capitol: I attend- 
ed them frequently, and was fortunate enough to be 
present at one interesting debate on a change in the 
mode yif Presidential elections : (nost of the princi- 
pal speakers took a part in if : Messrs. Gaston, Cal- 
hoim, and Webster in support of it ; Randolph and 
Grosvenor against it. The merits of the question 
were not immediately to be comprehended by a 
stranger, but their style of speaking was, in the high- 
est degree, correct and logical, particularly that of 
Mr. Webster of New Hampshire, whose ar2;nmenta- 
tive acuteness extorted a compliment from Mr. Ran- 
dolph himself, " albeit unused to the complimenting 
mood." Mr. Grosvenor, both in action and lan- 
guage, might be considered a finished orator, as far 
as our present notions of practical oratory extend, 
Mr. Randolph, whose political talents, or rather po- 
litical success, is said to be marred by an eccentrick 
turn of thought, which chimes in with no parly, seems 
rather a brilliant than a convincing speaker ; his elo- 
cution is distinct and clear to shrillness, his cofnmand 
of language and illustration seems unlimited ; but he 
gave me the idea of a man dealing huge blows against 
a shadow, and wasting his dexterity in splitting 
hairs : his political sentiments are singular : he con- 
siders the government of the United States as an 
elective monarchy ; " Torture the constitution ai 

26 



202 WA8HIKGT0N. 

you will," said he, in the course of the debate, "the 
President will elect his successor, and that will be 
his son whenever be has one old enough to succeed 
hill)." No expressions are used, either of approba- 
tion or the contrary ; wliafever may be ihe opinion 
oi llie House, the most perfect attention is given to 
each meoiber ; nor, however long he may speak, is 
he ever interrupted by those indications of impa- 
tience so common in our House of Commons. Thii 
may reasonably be accounted for by supposing, 
that their average speeches are, in themselves better; 
or more agreeably, by conjecturing, that (he Ameri- 
can idea of excellence is put at a lower standard 
than our own. Both the talents, however, and beha< 
viour of the members, seem worthy of the govern- 
ment, and of what America is, and may be. Their 
forms of business and debate nearly resemble those 
of our parliament ; always excepting wigs and gowns, 
a piece of grave absurdity well omitted : for it is 
surely an odd conceit, to fancy the dignity of the 
first officers of States attached to, or supported by, 
large conglomeratious of artificial hair. 



f 203 J 



CHAPTER XXIX. 



MOUNT VERNON. 



C-Rossiira the Pafomac by a wooden bridge, a mile 
and a quarter in length, the toll of which is a dollar, 
I proceeded through Alexandria, (o Mount Vernoo. 
Wbatever is worth describing in the house or situa- 
tion, has been niany times described : having walked 
through the gardens, 1 requested the old German 
gardener, who acled as Cicerone, to conduct nie to 
the tofnb of Washington : " Dere, go by dat path, 
and you will come to it," said be : I followed the 
path across the lawn, fo the brow Ihai overlooks the 
Pafomac, and passing a kind of cellar in the bank, 
which seemed to be an ire-house, continued my 
search, but to no effect: — I had already tound it: 
this cellar-like hole in the bank, closet! by an old 
wooden door, which had never been even paifited, 
was (he tomb of Washington, with not a rail, a stone, 
or even A laurel " to flourish o'er his grave." 

I stood for a moment overpowered with astonish- 
ment and indignation : — behold, says Prejudice, the 
gratitude of republicks ! behold, says Reason, the 
gratitude of mankind ! Had Washington served a 
Czar of Russia, he might have shared with Suwa- 
roff a Siberian exile ; he lived and died, honoured 
by the country he had saved ; he is forgotten in the 
grave, because man is feebly excited by any but 
selfish motives: the enlightened selfishness of repub- 
licanism honoured its defender, but what form of 
polity has been discovered, in which jrralitude sur- 
vives the hope of future benefits ? ^ Party zeal raises 



204 MOUNT TERNON. 

monuments over ifs victims, to stimulate the sur- 
vivors : vanity has not unfrequently urged the living 
to unite by such means, Iheir perishable names with 
those of the immortal dead, but the mausoleum rises 
slowly to which neither interest nor vanity contri- 
butes. It is said the Federal city will finally receive 
the remains of its designer; but the Dead can wait; 
and in the interim the matter was nearly cut short, 
by an attempt to steal the bones from their present 
receptacle, to carry them about for a show. Th« 
old door has since been kept padlocked. 



( 205 3 



CHAPTER XXX. 



WASHINGTON TO RICHMOND, BY THE SHENANDOAH 
VALLEY. 



Georgetown . . 


1 Miles 


Lower Falls of Fatomac 


'I 


I pper Falls 


11 


Dec. 22, Lnnsvilie . . . . 


10 


Lpesburg . . . • 


13 


23, VV'aterford . . . 


6 


Hilsboroueb 


8 


24, Harppi 's Ferry 


8 


25, Ch.Tileslowa 


B 


26, Winchester 


22 


New 1 own, or Stevensbnrg . 


8 


Strashiirg 


10 


27, Woodstock 


12 


Mount Pleasant 


12 


28, Newmarket 


8 


Big Spring . 


10 


29, Harrisonburg 


10 


Port Republick 


15 


30, Cave Inn y . 


2 


31, Staunton 


17 


Middlebrook , 


12 


Jao, 1, Brownshurg 


11 


Lexington 


13 


2, Natural Bridge 


14 


Lexington to Fairfield 


10 1-2 


4, Greenville 


13 


Wayenesborough 


17 


5, Rock Fish Gap 


4 


6, Charlottesville 


24 


7, Monticello 


1 1-2 


8, Boyd's Tavern .• , 


9 


9, Mrs. Tisley's Tavern 


27 


Goochland Court house 


15 


10, Powell's Tavern 


16 


11, Richmond 


14 



394 



THE MATILDA F.\LLS. 

Close to Georgetown the granite ridge strike* 
the Patomac : the road winds agreeably under it» 



206 THE MATILDA FALLS. 

cliff, till it crosses an oliJ bed of the river, left 
dry in consequence of a canal which has been cut to 
turn the lapirls : there is a chain bridge J)ere, from 
which the broken bed of the river, the falls, scatter- 
ed masses of rock, and lofty banks, present a wild 
and pleasins; picture. Having pursued uiy way for 
about nine miles, I quitted ihe main road to visil^lhe 
upper, or Matilda Falls, A field track brought me 
into a scattered village, built along a canal, cut, like 
the one above-mentioned, to avoid the falls: having 
crossed it, I walked along its edge for about a quar- 
ter of a mile, on a broad green-sward path, as smooth 
and regular as a garden terrace : a little wood was on 
my right, the trees of which were fantastically 
grouped together by abundance of wild vine, and 
other parasitica! plants, trailing and twining through 
them ; the whole conveying no inadequate idea of a 
stately and fair pleasure-ground of Q,ueen Elizabeth's 
time. Turning short from the canal, and stepping a 
few paces through the wood, I found myself on a 
bold precipice of rocks fronting the falls. — ( started 
at a sight so much grander than any thing I had ex- 
pected : as far as my eye could leach, the Paloniac 
came down from among its woods, dashing, and 
whitening over numberless ridges of rock, and break- 
ing in a wild succession of cascades, till, as if weari- 
ed by its own efforts, it swept, with silent impetuo- 
sity through a contracted channel betwixt perpendi- 
cular cliffs, whose dark, bare masses of granite were 
scantily crested by a few pines and cedars. The 
perpendicular descent of the falls is reckoned by 
Volney at seventy-two feet,* but the rapids extend 

* " Elle a environ 72 pieds de hauteur, sur 800 a 900 
de large : Ic jleuve, qui jusqu^ alors avail coule dans une 
valine bordte de coteaux sauvages comme ceux du Rhone 
en Vivarais, tombe tout-a-coup, conune le Saint Laurent, 
dans un profond ravin de pur roc granit talli a pic sur 
les deux rives. 

Vohry, CJimat D^ Amerique, i. i. /». 125. 

I found mica-slate, and porphyry about the Falls. 



THE MATILDA FALLS. 207 

for several miles up the river, and the whole scene 
has a magnificent wildness, which may be gazed 
upon with delight and wonder, even after Niagara; 
80 inexhaustibly can nature vary her features, and 
be alike gracefully sublime in all.^ 

* It is remarkable, that Mr. Jpfiferson, so accurate ia bis 
notices of Virgiaia, makes no meatioa of these tails. / 



[ 20« J 



CHAPTER XXXI. 



HARPER'S FERRY. 



1 HE road which ascends the right bank of the Pa- 
toinac, through Lansville and Leesburg, has the 
credit, and I think justly, of being about the worst in 
the Union. It is a common saying of roads in Vir- 
ginia, that they are " not made, but created." The 
soil towards the mountains is generally a stiff clay, 
and as each waggoner works his own way through 
the woods, the traveller is continually puzzled betwixt 
the equal probabilities of a variety of tracts, most of 
which, indeed, lead to the same point, but as this is 
not invariably the case, he must often journey on in 
doubt, or halt in muddy perplexity until he can pro- 
cure information. The villages are thinly scattered, 
but well built of brick, an advantage derived from 
the soil. Leesburg contains about 1200 inhabitants. 
The inn at which I slopped, had stabling for above 
an hundred horses, for the accommodation or farmers 
who come together on Court days. These court 
days are almost county meetings; those who have 
business attend for business sake, those who have 
none attend to meet their neighbours, who may have 
business with them, and because it is discreditable 
to be often absent. 

At Hilsborough, the road passes through a moun- 
tain gap, resembling the Wind Gap, on a small scale : 
this ridge is called the Short Mountain, and runs 
parallel to the Blue Ridge, at the distance of about 
five miles ; it crosses the Patomac below Harper's 



•harper's FERRr. 209 

Ferry, and I am inclined to consider it as the same, 
which M. Vohiey observed near Columbia Ferry, 
betwixt York and Lancaster, and which he is dispos- 
ed to regard as the Blue Mountain itself. I should 
rather leave the Blue Mountain where it stands in 
the maps at present, and conjecture this collateral 
ridge to be a prolongation of the Lehigh Mountain, 
perhaps communicating with Monticello. Immediate- 
ly after passing it, the road turns to the riglit and 
continues betwixt it and the Blue Mountain, to which 
it seems an immense out-work. The land- rises gradu- 
ally, nor is it until you have reached the ridge of 
the descent, and find yourself looking down towards 
the bed of the Patomac, and its opposite shore, that 
you are aware of the elevation gained. 

Here commences the savage wildness of the pic- 
ture. Your road lies down the side of the mountain, 
strewed with splinters and fragoients of rock, which 
slide from beneath your horse's feet : immense 
masses of rock project their bold angles, so as fre- 
quently to leave a cranked and difficult passage ; 
meantime the mountains stretching up on every 
side, and partially beheld between the scattered pine 
trees, seem contracting round with a deepening 
breadth of shadow and gloomy grandeur, until you 
find at their base (he united Patomac and Shenandoah, 
boiling over their incumbered channel. Continuing 
your way betwixt these waters, and the ragged pre- 
cipices of the Blue Mountain, through which they 
seem to have burst, you reach the Shenandoah 
Ferry : but a sketch will best illustrate the locale 
of this extragrdinary scene. 



27 



210 



HARPER S FERRr, 




I descended by the road A. The village is built 
round the foot of the heischt B: i( is chiefly remar- 
kable for a mannfactory of small arms, about 10,000 
stand of which are finished yearly : " They make 
as many in a week al Birmingham," said one of the 
workmen, who had been formerly employed there, 
to »ne. It is from this height, immediately above 
the village, and from a broad bare platform of Rock, 
known bv the name of Jefferson's rock, that the eye 
commands the magnificent prospect which Mr. Jeff*er- 
son has so eloquently, yei correctly described. 
*' You stand on a very high point of land. On your 
right comes up the Shenandoah, having ranged along 
the foot of the mountain an hundred miles to seek a 
vent. On your left approaches the Patomac, in 
qtiest of a passage also. In the moment of their 
junction, they rush together against the mountain, 



harper's ferry. 211 

rend if agunder, and pass off to the sea. The first 
glance of this scene hurries our senses into the opin- 
ion, fhat this earih has been created in time, that 
the mountains were formed first, that the livers be- 
gan to flow afterwards; that in this place parliiular- 
\y, they hare been dammed up by the Bhae ridge of 
monnlciins, and have formed an ocean whioh filled 
the whole valley ; that continuing to rise, they have 
at lensrth broken over at this spot, and have torn the 
mountain down from its summit to its base. The 
piles of rock on each hand, but particjilarly on the 
Shenandoah, the evident marks of their disrnpture 
and avulsion from their beds by the most powerful 
agents of nature, corroborate the impression. But 
the distant finishing which nature hats given to the 
picture, isx)f a very different character. It is a true 
contrast to the foreground. It is as placid and de- 
lightful, as that is wild and tremendous. For the 
mountain being cloven asunder, she [iresents to your 
eye, through the cleft, a small catch of smooth blue 
horizon, at an infinite distance in the plain country, 
inviting you, as it were, from the riot and tumult 
roaring around, to pass ftirough the breach and par- 
ticipate of the calm below. Here the eye ultimately 
composes itself; and that way too, the road happens 
actually to lead. You cross flie Palomac above the 
junction, pass along its side through the base of the 
moiuitain for three miles, its terrible precipices hang- 
ing in fr »u.ments over you, and within about 20 miles 
reach Fredericktown, and the fine country round it. 
This scene is worth a voyage across the iVtlan'ick : 
yet here, as in the neighbourhood of the Natural 
Bridge, are people, who have passed their li\es with- 
in liiiif a dozen miles, and iiave never been to survey 
these monuments of a war between rivers and moun- 
tains which must have shaken the earth itself to its 
centre." — Notes, p. '27. 

Crossing Harper's Ferry, I ascended with some toil 
the mountain precipice, C, on the left of the Pato- 



212 harper's ferry. 

mac. The side it presents to the river, broken and 
perpendicular, ils disjointed and confused strata, with 
enormous masses of rock jutting out, and impending 
al)ove ils base, seem to testify the catastrophe by 
which it has been rent asunder : from its summit I 
coiiimamled a magnifi.^ent prospect of the Sbeniindoah 
Valley, bounded on either side by the North and Blue 
Mountain ridges, like gigatitick walls, with the blue 
peaks of the Fort Mountain, rising at the distance of 
about fifty miles to the south-west. M. Volney esti- 
mates the height of the Blue Ridge, at this spot, at 
1150 feet. It is chiefly composed of flint, freestone, 
and some granite, but the point B is scliistus. Canals 
have been cut to turn the rapids of both rivers. 
Flour is the article chiefly brought down, in long flat 
boats, which carry about eighty barrels each. The 
navigation, as may be supposed, is both diflicult and 
dangerous. I found the inn here tolerably good, but 
the charges extravagant ; a circumstance my landlord 
indirectly explained, by telling me of the many 
travellers whom curiosity brought to the spot, rather, 
it should seem, to discover if it possest any peculiar 
virtue to rid them of their time and money, than to 
admire ils beauties. He was also haunted by a class 
of customers of a very different stamp, wealthy and 
penurious farmers, from whom he could extract noth- 
ing : he instanced two, who had lately slept at his 
house, after laying out very large sums at a neigh- 
bouring cattle fair : they slept, look their meals, and 
paid a bill of two pence. This is economy beyond 
the flight of an English miser. They brought their 
bacon with them, requested permission to spread 
their blankets on the flopr, and took two glasses of 
whiskey in the morning for the good of the house. I 
found my host graduated his charges according to 
what one set of his customers would, and what he 
thought the other should spend ; by which means I 
paid for the opposite vices of both. 



1213] 



CHAPTER XXXIf. 



THE SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 



The Blue Ridge, and North Mountain, having cross- 
ed the Palomac, bound a valley, about twenty miles 
wide at its greatest breadlh on ihe Patomac, and 
narrowing, almost (o a point, beyond Ihe Natural 
bridge, a length of about 180 miles. It is watered 
by (he many branches of the Shenandoah, a few of 
which rise in the North Monniain, but the greater 
number among the spurs of both ridges, where they 
nearly meet, in the neighbourhood ot Staunton and 
Waynesborough. The two piijicipal branches, call- 
ed the North and South Rivers, are separated by a 
ridge, named, from the peculiarity of its form, the 
Fort Mountain, which divides the valley longitudi- 
nally for above fifty miles, and terminates near the 
village of Port Republick- The basis of the soil is 
limestone, the strata of which are every where visible, 
ranging, (says Mr. Jeflferson,) '■ as the mountains and 
sea-coast do, from south-west to north-east, the lami- 
na of each bed declining from the horizon towards a 
parallelism with the axis of the earth." Notes, p. 
42. The whole valley is remarkably fertile, parti- 
cularly in wheat, so that Winchester, as a corn mar- 
ket, has more than a nominal reseuibiance to its 
Hampshire names,ake. It has been built about sixty 
years : the houses are, for the most part, small, and 
either log, plank, brick, or stone, according to their 
date, or the means of their inhabitants: the number of 
these was estimated at 2,500 by the last census, but 
there is a considerable portion of negroes. 1 had a 



214 THE SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

direction to a boarding-honse kept by a Mrs. Street, 
and can conscientiouslj recommended her neat apart- 
ments and good fable to the attention of futnre Ira- 
rellers. The return of crops ihrougb the valley is 
averaged at about twenty bushels of wheat per acre. 
Gypsum is generally used at the cost of from thirty 
to forty dollars per ton. The farmeis, (for here we 
get quit of planters and planialions,) are reckoned 
rich and penurious. It is probibie enough, their 
habits of expense are upon a very different scale 
from those of the planters, but the luxury of the few 
is ever atoned for by the poverty of the many. 

There are more farm-houses and fewer negro huts 
in this valley, than in the Lowlands : still, however, 
the plague-spot is too evident. At every tavern 
advertisements are stuck up for runaway slaves : the 
barbarous phraseology in which they were drawn up, 
sometimes amused,*' but the ferocious spirit of re- 
venge they too plainly expressed more frequently 
disgusted me. 

A country must have very bold features to be in- 
teresting in winter : the Shenandoah Vallej' should 
be visited when the harvest is yellow on its ample 
fields : the roads were, however, good, even at this 
season, except that when crossed by limestone strata 
they were rather rough. The weather, too, was fine, 
and the thermometer frequently up to ZOo, with a 
south-west wind. 

The Fort Mountain commences near Stratford : 
it is named from being accessible but by one road, 
but the top of it is flat, and 1 was told (here were 
many hundred acres of very good land on it. The 
inhabitants of the valley are remarkably clean in their 
houses: I stopped at a little tavern near the Big 
Spring, on the floor of which one might have dined : 
to be sure it did not seem a house of great resort, 
but I had, subsequently, cause to make comparisons 

* I remember a nesro being described as " Chunkmade." 



THE SHENANDOAH VALLET. 215 

on this point, much (o its advantage, particularly at 
Richmond. The Big Spring gushes from a knoll 
of limestone behind ihe tavern, and almost immedi- 
ately turns a mill, and escapes down a glen, dark 
with cedars and pine-trees. Some fine views of the 
mountains present themselves a liMle above Harrison- 
burg. On entering the village, I inquired, of a res- 
pectable looking farmer, for the best tavern : he con- 
dueled me to one kept by himself, which it was hicki- 
\y no prejudice in him to call the best. Mr. Duff's 
person and appearance pleased me : be was a very 
personification of Farmer Dimmond ; tall, and of an 
athletick make, with a gait firm and erect, and his 
dark hair slightly grizzled, curled above a counte- 
nance of manly beauty, beaming with goed humour. 
He made me very welcome, and entered into a lively 
gossip ; while his wife, a neat and somewhat quaint 
picture of good housewifery, prepared a comfortable 
dinner, after which, over a few glasses of negus, I 
soon became acquainted with whatever was worth 
knowing of the country. The village, Mr. Duff in- 
formed me, had formerly been remarkable for the 
vicious habits of its inhabilants ; but a complete 
reformation had lately taken place through the agen- 
cy, not of preachers, but of the Grand Jury, who 
had imposed upon themselves the duly of receiving 
informations in cases of quarrels, swearing, drunken- 
ness, and other habits of low vice, and had put the 
laws into force against the offenders with such good 
effect, that scarcely an oath was to be heard, or a 
drunken man seen in the township. Mr. Duff was 
himself an excellent specimen of the best part of 
his neighbours ; though extremely lively, and fond 
of conversation, he never uttered an immoral expres- 
sion, and declared, that the glass of negus he took 
with me was more than he had taken of spirits for 
several years. His disposition seemed in a high de- 
gree friendly and benevolent; yet, mark the wither- 
ing effect of slavery on the moral feelings ! he was 



216 THE SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

talking of the different ways men had in that part 
of the country of making money. " Some," said 
he, " purchase droves of hogs, oxen, or horses, in 
one part of the Union, and drive them for sale to 
another ; and some buy negroes in the same way, 
and drive them, chained together, to different mar- 
kets : I expect two gentlemen here this evening with 
a drove." 1 expressed ray horrour of such traffick ; 
he civilly assented to my observation, but plainly, 
without any similar feeling, and spoke of the gentle- 
men he expected, as if they were just as " honour- 
able men," as any other fair dealers in the communi- 
ty : luckily I was not cursed with their company. 
I never chanced to fall in with one of these human 
droves, but I borrow from a pleasing little work, 
written by a Virginian, and entitled, " Letters from 
Virginia," the following description which he gives 
in the character of a foreigner newly landed at 
Norfolk. 

" I took the boat this morning, and crossed the 
ferry over to Portsmouih, the small town which I 
told you is opposite to this place. It was court 
day, and a large crowd of people was gathered 
about the door of the Court House, i had hardly 
got upon the steps to look in, when my ears were 
assailed by the voice of singing, and turning round 
to discover from what quarter it came, I saw a group 
of about thirty negroes, of different sizes and ages, 
following a rough-looking white man, who sat care- 
lessly lolling in his sulkey. They had just turned 
round the corner, and were coming up the main 
street to pass by the spot where I stood, on their 
way out of town. As they came nearer, I saw some 
of them loaded with chains to prevent their es- 
cape ; while others had hold of each other's hands, 
strongly grasped, as if to support themselves in their 
affliction. I particularly noticed a poor mother, 
with an infant sucking at her breast as she walked 
along, while two small children had hold of her 



THE SHENANDOAH VALLET. 217 

apron on either side, almost running to keep up with 
the rest. They came along singing a little wild 
hymn, of sweet and mournful melody, flying by a 
divine instinct of the heart to the consolation of 
religion, the last refuge of the unhappy, to support 
them in their distress. The sulky now stopped 
before the tavern, at a little distance beyond the 
court-house, and the driver got out. 'My dear Sir,* 
(said I, to a person who stood near rae,) 'can you 
tell me what these poor people have been doing? 
What is their crime? and what is to be their punish- 
ment?' ' O, (said he,) its nothing at all, but a 
parcel of negroes sold to Carolina, and that man is 
their driver, who has bought them.' * But what 
have they done, that they should be sold into ban- 
ishment ?' 'Done, (said he,) nothing at all that I 
know of, their masters wanted money, I suppose, 
and these drivers give good prices,' Here the driv- 
er having supplied himself with brandy, and his horse 
with water (the poor negroes of course wanted noth- 
ing,) stepped into his chair again, cracked his whip 
and drove on, while the miserable exiles followed 
in funeral procession behind him." 



28 



[218 3 



CHAPTER XXXIII. 



THE CAVES. 

Aboht a mile from Harrisonburg, there is a road 
wiiich Imns to the left ; it crosses iLe north and 
niiildle forks of the South Slienantloah, and passes 
round the southern extremity of the Fort Mountain, 
through a well settled country, to Port Republick ; 
from this village the distance is about a mile to the 
Cave tavern. A hill, reckoned at 200 feet of per- 
pendicular height, rises on the left bank of the south 
fork, the ascent of which is so steep, that, as Mr. 
Jefferson observes, " you may pitch a biscuit from 
its summit into the river." The entrance into the 
Caves is about two-thirds of the way up ; the one 
Mr. Jefferson has described, Notes p. 31. by the 
name of Madison's Cave, is used for the purpose 
of making salt-petre, and seldom visited from curiosi- 
ty ; its altracc.on having been destroyed by the 
discovery of another cavern of ^uperiour extent and 
grandeur, in the same cliff, a few yards beyond it. 
Being private property, and much frequented by 
strangers, the enirance is kept closed. The pro- 
prietor, an old German, acts as guide, provides lights, 
&c. and seems to feel much interest in his office, 
when be attends persons whom he thinks capable of 
appieciating the scene. 

The entiance afforded mere crawling room, but 
as we receded from the light ef^day, the vauKing 
rose, and after descending some rude steps and 
crags, we began to peran)hulate a magnificent sub- 
terranean palace. Its length is reckoned at 800 



THE CAVES. 219 

yards, and taking the curvatures of the numerous 
apartments it may be as much: there are about 
14 of them, of various dimension!^ ; some low-browed 
and studded with pointed, and glittering stalactites, 
like fairj grottoes, others long and spacious, with 
roofs so lofty, that the summits of the massive con- 
gelations, which, pillar-like, descend from them to 
the ground, are shrouded in obscurity. The largest 
of these apartments, called VVashuiglon's hall, is 93 
yards in length, of a proportionate breadth, and pro- 
bably 50 feet high. 

It is impossible to describe the solemn grandeur of 
this natural cathedral : clusters of stalactitick columns, 
many of them ten or twelve feet in circufnference, 
rise in magnificent order along the sides ; their co- 
lour is of a glistening brown, with frequently a shaft, 
a pedestal, or an intercolumniation of snowy white- 
ness. On approaching the upper end, our lights 
gleamed upon a gigantick stalactite, which, in the 
dimness, bore some resemblance to a throned statue 
of alabaster ; it is called Washington's statue ; but 
this appellation, like many other misnomers and con- 
ceiis, such as Solomon's throne, David's sceptre, 
Adam and Eve in Paradise, which the guide forces 
on your notice as )*ou proceed, serves only to create 
a tiresome distraction of the atten'ion, by introducing 
ideas peculiarly ill suited to a scene, in which na- 
ture is working alone in power and beauty, regard- 
less of the existence of man and his passions. 
There is scarcely a turn in the cavern which does 
nol present some curious specimen of her sportive 
creation, at one time imitating the folds of gorgeous 
drapery ; at another, representing a water-fall, which 
seems to have been suddenly converted into marble ; 
here she has chiselled out the model of a Gothick 
ora'ory ; tiiere adorns a large sitting-room, with 
flowers and rural implements. The larger columns, 
being hollow, give out, when forcibly struck, a deep 
and melodious sound, which heard in the remoter 



220 THE CAVES. 

caverns, has the effect of fine musick. What a Py- 
thian dwelling for old superstition !* 

I found very good quarters at Staunton, and spent 
the evening agreeably, in company with a young 
American sailor, who had served at the Battle of 
Platfsburg. He related some anecdotes, which had 
fallen under his own observation, of the behaviour 
of imprest seamen, which induced me to wish this 
rotten portion of our naval system exterminated. 
While coping with inferiour foes, some errours may 
be afforded, but when " Greek meets Greek," the 
careless fastening of a vizor-clasp may decide the 
contest. 

Betwixt Staunton and Lexington, the villages 
have a mean appearance. At Middlebrook, while 
my horse was feeding, several of the inhabitants 
collected round my waggon, and finding it of a 
fashion unusual in their country, concluded I could 
be no ordinary person, so they begged to know if 
I was not the showman, who had been exhibiting 
in the neighbourhood, and whose fame had pre- 
ceded his arrival at this village: upon my assuring 
them I was no such distinguished character, (for I 
believe the inquiry rather implied a compliment,) 
they contented themselves with taking notes and 
dimensions of my equipage, and we civilly parted. 
The valley narrows towards Lexington, and the face 
of the country becomes in consequence more wild 
and uneven, being broken into paps and short hills, 
shooting out from the North, and Blue ridges, and 
thus presenting a succession of deeply wooden glens 
and mountain, very agreeable after the level uni- 
formity of the upper part of the valley. Lexing- 
ton is a brisk-looking little (own, and having a col- 
lege, is the literary capital of the upper parts of 

* I tbnud the heat of the Cavern oppressive ; it was a sharp 
frost without, the thermonuter at 30" ; in Washington's Hall 
it rose to 64** ; the vapour from within had completely thaw- 
ed the viriuitv of the entrance. 



THE CAVE8. 221 

"Virginia. Arriving early in the day, I inquired for 
a saddle horse lo ride over to the Natural Bridge; 
the landlord of (he tavern at which I slopped im- 
mediately set out with me in search of one, and I 
reached the Bridge tavern, as it is called, the same 
evening. 1 found it a substantial stone house, and 
all in a bustle, for a party of young men had met to 
have a dance ; they were, however, scantily sup- 
plied with partners, the ladies of the neighbourhood 
having, either from caprice or devotion, for the most 
part declined their invitation; (hey, however, used 
merrily the means they had. While the amuse- 
ments were going on in (he publick room, I walked 
into the parlour, to be a little out of the noise ; an 
ungracious term, but the mirth in which we have no 
share, will sometimes sound harshly, and so it did 
to other ears than mine, though for a different rea- 
son. In (his same parlour, I found a square erect 
figure, in a brimmed hat, and primitive suit of dark 
snuff-colour, pacing up and down with a sourness 
of aspect, which, had I not been subsequently en- 
lightene<) as to its cause, I might have ascribed to a 
fit of (he cholick : he had already enuncia(ed (he 
perturbed condidon of the inward man, by several 
eniphatick ohs, and groans, when a merr^, respec- 
table looking Irishman, whom I had observed a prin- 
cipal promoter of the revels, tripped in, and pre- 
sently addressing himself rather lo the thoughts 
than the words, of my dolorous snuff-coloured friend, 
observed, " Now for my soul, 1 cannot see any dif- 
ference wiiether we jump about to (he cat-gut, or sit 
still with our hands before us ; the time is but spent 
one way as well as the other." *' The difference" 
retorted the saint, (for such Ije now pjoved himself 
to be,) "is that the one can be done lo the g!ory 
lo God, and the other cannot." Alas! for Ihe glory 
of (he Almighty, which one half of mankind be- 
lieves itself able to exalt by juniping about, and (he 
o(her half by si((ing still. This sour fana(icism is, 
however, gaining great ground in the States. 



[222 



CHAPTER XXXIV. 



THE NATURAL BRIDGE. 



To describe the Natural Bridge in any other words 
than those of Mr. Jeflferson, would imply a stronger 
feeling of ils beauty, or a greater power of descrip- 
tion than his : I pretend to neither, and a good quo- 
tation is better than original insipidity. 

" The Natural Bridge, the most sublime of Na- 
ture's works, is on the ascent of a hill, which seems 
to have been cloven through its length by some great 
convulsion. The fissure just at the bridge is by 
some admeasurements 270 feet deep, by others, only 
205 : it is about forty-five feet wide at the bottom, 
and ninety feet at the top ; this of course determines 
the length of the bridge, and its height above the 
water. Its breadth in the middle is about sixty feet, 
but more at the ends, and the thickness of the mass 
at the summit of the arch, about forty feet. A part 
of this thickness is constituted by a coat of earth, 
which gives growth to many large trees: the resi- 
due, with the hill on both sides, is one solid rock of 
limestone. The arch approaches the semi-elliptical 
form; but the longer a)^s of the ellipsis, which would 
be the chord of the arch, is many times longer than 
the transverse. Though the sides of this bridge 
are provided, in some parts, with a parapet of fixed 
rocks, yet few men have the resolution to walk to 
them, and look over into the abyss. You involun- 
tarily fall upon your hands and feet, creep to the 
parapet, and peep over it. Looking down from this 
height about a minute gave me a violent headacb. 



THE NATURAL BRIDGE. 228 

If the view from the top be painful and intolerable, 
that from below is delightful in an equal exireme. 
It is impossible for the emotions arising from the 
sublime to be felt beyond what they are here : so 
beautiful an arch, so elevated, so light, and spring- 
ing up as it were to heaven ! The rapture of the 
spectator is really indescribable ! The fissure con- 
tinuing narrow, deep, and straight, for a considerable 
distance above and below the bridge, opens a short, 
bu very pleasing view, of the North Mountain on 
the one side, and the Blue Ridge on the other, at 
the distance, each of them, of about five miles. The 
stream passing under the bridge is called Cedar 
Creek. It is a water of James' River, and suffi- 
cient, in the dryest seasons, to turn a grist-mill, 
though its (buntain is not more than two miles above." 
— Notes, p. 34. 

Mr. Jefferson prudently abstains from building 
any hypothesis as to the origin of this natural won- 
der : the Marquis de Chastellux has more chivalrous- 
ly made the attempt, by supposing that after the 
draining of the larger valleys by the escape of their 
waters through the mountain gaps, the little valley 
of Cedar Creek served as a partial reservoir, dam- 
med up by the rock of the natural bridge, the under 
part of which they undermined, and so formed the 
arch. It is ditficult, however, to conceive how a 
body of water contained within this little ravine, 
and consequently in a quiescent state, could have 
force enough to break, or mine through a mass of 
rock sixty feet in thickness: besides, this hypothe- 
sis still leaves the extraordinary circumstance of a 
wall of these dimensions crossing the valley, unac- 
counted for. Mr. Jefferson, in observing on Don 
Ulioa's description of a similar break in the pro- 
Tince of Anjarez, in South America, inclines to the 
opinion that in both cases the effect had been pro- 
duced by some sudden convulsion; a less favourite, 
because, perhaps, a more simple hj^pothesis than 
the former. Mr. Jefferson is the proprietor of the 



224 THE NATURAL BRIDGE. 

Natural Bridge, and commonly makes a visit once in 
the year, " (o look upon its beauty."* 

Belwixf Lexington and the bridge there are some 
grand features of scenery, particularly at the mill 
and village of Buffalo Creek. Betwixt Lexington 
and Wayenesborough, I found the roads miry, and 
the country heavy ; the villages (ew, and not very 
pleasing in their appearance ; but in fact, the sea- 
son for the picturesque was gone by, and toiling 
through dark plashy woods began to be tiresome 
work. I slept a night at the tavern of Rock-fish 
Gap, and fiom the heights above the house, enjoy- 
ed a las! view of the valley and mountain country on 
one hand, while on the other 1 looked down into 
the lowlands, over an immense landscape of fertile 
country. The soil on this side the ridge, is a tenacious 
red clay, " just," says Volney, " like the soil of 
Aleppo," and continues such most of the way to 
Richmond. 

* From ttie Bridge it is fourteen miles to tlie Peaks of 

Otter. In the maps the distance exceeds forty miles. I 

found basaltick stones scattered in great abundance about a 
mile from ttie bridge. 



[ 225 ] 



CHAPTER XXXV. 



MONTICELLO. 

Having an introduction to Mr. Jefferson, I ascend- 
ed his little mountain on a fine morning, which gave 
the situation its due effect. The whole of the sides 
and base are covered with forest, through which 
roads have been cut circularly, so that the winding 
may be shortened or prolonged at pleasure : the sum- 
mit is an open lawn, near to the south side of which 
the house is built, with its garden just descending 
the brow : the saloon, or central hall, is ornamented 
with several pieces of antique sculpture, Indian arras, 
Mammoth bones, and other curiosities collected from 
various parts of the Union. I found Mr. Jefferson 
tall in person, but stooping and lean with old age, 
thus exhibiting that fortunate mode of bodily decay, 
which strips the frame of its most cumbersome parts, 
leaving it still strength of muscle and activity of limb. 
His deportment was exactly such as the Marquis de 
Chastellux describes it, above thirty years ago: 
" At first serious, nay even cold," but in a very 
short time relaxing into a most agreeable amenity ; 
with an unabated flow of conversation on the most in- 
teresting topicks, discussed in the most gentlemanly 
and philosophical manner. I walked with him round 
his grounds, to visit his pet trees, and improvements 
of various kinds : during the walk, he po-nted out to 
my observation a conical mountain, rising singly at 
the edge of the southern horizon of the landscape : 
its distance he said, was 40 miles, and its dimensions 
those of the greater Egyptian pyramid ; so that it ac- 

'29 



226 MONTICEL^O. 

ciirafely represents the appearance of the pyramid at 
tliH same ilisiance ; there is a small clefl visible on its 
siJinrjiil, ihroiigh which, the true meridian of Monti- 
cello exiicfly passes : its most singular property, how- 
ever, i?!, Ihat on different occasions it looms, or alters 
its iippearance, becoming sometimes cylindrical, 
sometimes square, and sometimes assuming the form 
of an inverted cone. Mr. Jefferson had not been 
able to connect this phenomenon with any particular 
season, or state of the atmosphere, except, that it 
mosl commonly occurred in the forenoon. He ob- 
served, that it was not only wholly unaccounted for 
by the laws of vision, but that it had not as yet en- 
gaged the alleniion of philosophers so far as to ac- 
quire a name ; that of looming, being in fact, a term 
applied by sailors, to appearances of a similar kind at 
sea. The Blue Moimiains are also observed lo loom, 
though not in so retnarkable a degree.* 

It must be inieresfitjg lo recall and preserve the 
political sentiments of a man who has held so distin- 
guished a station in publick life as Mr. Jeflferson. 
He seemed (o consider much of the freedom and hap- 
piness of America lo arise from local circumstances. 
" Oiir popidatioD," he observed, *' has an elasticity, 
by which it woidd fly off from oppressive taxation." 
He instanced the befit'ticial effects of a free govern- 
ment, in the case of jNew Orleans, where many pro- 
prietors who were in a state of indigence under the 
dominion of Spain, have risen to sudden wealth, 
solelv bv the rise in the value of land, which followed 
a chunge of government. Their ingenuity in me- 
chanical inventions, agricultural improvements, and 
that mass of general information to be found among 
Americans of all ranks and conditions, he ascribed to 
that ease of circumstances, which afforded them lei- 
sure lo cultivate their minds, after the cultivation of 

* Vide, for a more detailed account of this pheuomenoD, iu 
Notes on Virginia, p. 122. 



MONTICELLO. 227 

their lands was completed. — In fact, I have frequent- 
ly been surprised to find mafbeinafical and oilier 
useful works in houses, which seemed to iiave litlje 
preJension to the luxury of learning. Another cause, 
Mr. Jefferson observed, might be discovered in ihe 
many court and county meetings, which brought men 
frequently togethei- on publick business, and thus 
gave them habits, both of thiniiing and of expressing 
their thoughts on subjects, which in other countries 
are confined to the consideration of the privileged 
few. Mr. Jefferson has not the reputation of being 
very friendly to England : we should, however, be 
aware, that a partiality in this respect is not absolute- 
ly the duty of an American citizen ; neither is it to 
be expected that tjie policy of our government should 
be regarded in foreia;n countries, with the same com- 
placency uifh which it is looked upon by ourselves : 
but whatever may be his sentiiDcnls in this resj;ect, 
po!ifenes«i naturally lepiessed any offensive exjjres- 
sion »)I ihetn : he talked of our aifaiis v:]\h candour, 
and apparent good will, though leaning, perhaps, to 
the gloomier iside of the picture, lie did not per- 
ceive by n-hat means we could he extricated from 
onr present flnancis! embarrassments, wiihout some 
kinc- of revolulion in our government : on my reply- 
ing, tha» our habits were remarkably steady, and that 
gr:'at sacrifices would be made to prevent a violent 
catastrophe, he acceded to the obs'^Jivation, but de- 
manded, if those who made the sacrifices, woidd not 
require some political reformation in letuin. His re- 
pugnance was strongly marked to 'he desp*)ii( k prin- 
ciples of Bonaparte, and he seented lo cuivsitler 
France under Louis XVI. as scarcely capable oi a re- 
publican form of government ; but adtiefl, that the 
present generation of Frenchnien had grown up with 
sounder notions, which would prot)ably leap lo I heir 
emancipation. Relative to the light in which he 
views the conduct of the Allied Sovereigns, I c;\nnot 
do better than insert a letter of his to Dr. Logan, 



22S MONTICELLO. 

dated 1 8th October, 1815, and published in the Ame> 
rican Newspapers : 

" Dear Sir, — I thank you for the extract in yours 
of August 16th, respecting the Emperour Alexander. 
It arrived here a day or two after 1 had left this place, 
from which 1 have been absent about seven or eight 
weeks. 1 had from other information, formed the 
most favourable opinion of the virtues of the Empe- 
rour Alexander, and considered his partiality to 
this country as a prominent proof of them. The 
magnanimity of his conduct on the first capture of 
Paris, still magnified every thing we had believed of 
him ; but how he will come out of his present trial, 
remains to be seen : (hat the sufferings which France 
had inflicted on other countries, justified some repri- 
sals, cannot be questioned, but 1 have not yet learn- 
ed what crimes Poland, Saxony, Belgium, Venice, 
LomDardy, and Genoa, had merited for them, not 
merely a temporary punishment, but that of perma- 
nent subjugation, and a destitution of independence 
and self-government. The fable of jEsop and the 
Lion dividing the spoils, is, 1 fear, becoming true 
history, and the moral code of Napoleon and the En- 
glish government, a substitute for that of Grotius, of 
Puffendorf, and even of the pure doctrines of the 
great author of our own religion. We were safe our- 
selv€^^rom Bonaparte, because he had not the Bri- 
tish fleets at his command. We were safe from the 
British fleets, because they had Bonaparte at their 
back, but the British fleets, and the conquerors of 
Bonaparte, being now combined, and the Hartford 
nation drawn off to them, we have uncommon reason 
to look to our own affairs. This, however, I leave to 
others, offering prayers to Heaven, the only contri- 
bution of old age, for the safety of our country. Be 
so good as to present me affectionately to Mrs. Lo- 
gan, and to accept, yourself, the assurance of my es- 
teem and respect. 

" T. Jefferson." 



MONTICELLO. 229 

The same anxiety for his country's independence 
seems to have led him to a change of opinion on the 
relative importance of manufactories in America. He 
thus expresses himself, in answer lo an address from 
the American society for the encouragemenl of manu- 
factories : " I have read with great satisfaction, the 
eloquent pamphlet you were so kind as to send me, 
and sympathize with every line of it. 1 was once a 
doubter, whether the labour of the cultivator, aided 
by the creative powers of the earth itself, would not 
produce more value than that ot the manufacturer 
alone, and unassisted by the dead subject on which 
he acted ; in other words, whether the more we could 
bring into action of the energies of our boundless ter- 
ritory, in addition to the labour of our citizens, the 
more would not be our gain. But the inventions of 
the latter times, by labour-saving machines, do as 
much now for the manufacturer, as the earth for the 
cultivator. Experience loo, has proved that mine 
was but half the question ; the other half is, whether 
dollars and cents are to be weighed in the scale against 
real independence. The question is then solved, at 
least so far as respects our own wants. 1 much fear 
the effect on our infant establishment, of the policy 
avowed by Mr. Brougham, and quoted in the pam- 
phlet. Individual British merchants may lose by the 
Jate immense importations ; but British commerce and 
manufactories in the mass will gain, by beating down 
the competition of ours in our own markets, &,c." 

The conversation turning on American history, 
Mr. Jefferson related an anecdote of the Abbe Ray- 
nal, which serves to shew how history, even when it 
calls itself philosophical, is written. The Abbe was 
in company with Dr. Franklin, and several Ameri- 
cans at Paris, when mention chanced to be made of 
his anecdote of Polly Baker, related in his sixth vol- 
ume, upon which one of the company observed, that 
no such law as that alludetl to in the story, existed 
in New England : the Abbe stoutly maintained the 



230 monticelIlo". 

authenticity of his tale, when Dr. Franklin, who had 
hitherto remainecl silent, said, " I can account for all 
this ; you took the anecdote from a newsp-iper, of 
which I was at thai time editor, and, happening to be 
very short of news, I coi-npused and inserted ihe 
whole story." " Ah ! D.)ctor," said the Abbe rnak- 
ing a true French retreat, " I had rather have your 
stories, than other men's truths." 

Mr. Jeiferson preferred Botfa's Italian History of 
the American Revolfilion, to any that had yet ap- 
peared, remarking, however, the inaccuracy of the 
8[)eeches. Indeed, the true hi^fojy of that period 
see.'ns to be generally consiiiered as lost: A re- 
inark;!ble letter on this poiiit, latelv appealed in print, 
frotn Ihe venerable Mi. John AJarh'^, ro a Mr. Niles, 
who had solicited ii'ts aid to collect and pn;>lish a 
body of re\oiutioMary •>peeches. He sb">'. "Of all 
the speeches made in Co.-v^ress, from 1774 lo \777, 
inclusive, of both years, no! one sentence ; ?fu tin*, ex- 
cept a few periods of Dr. VVWnerspoon, prinled in 
his Works." His concluding sentence is very sdong. 
" In plain English, and in a few wor is, Mr. Niles, I 
consider the true history of the Auierican revulnlion, 
and the establishment of onr present constitutions, as 
lost for ever; and nothing but misrepcesentatiojjs, 
or partial accounts of it, will ever be recovered." 

I slept a niglit at Montice'lo, and left it m the 
morning, with such a fepiing as the traveller quits 
the aiouldering remains of a Grecian temple, or the 
pi!gri(n a fountain in the desert. It would indeed 
argue great torpor, both of understanding and heart, 
to have looked without veneration and interest, on 
the man who drew up the declaratiofi of Afueriran 
Independence ; who shared in the councils by which 
her freedom was established ; whom Ihe nnbought 
voice of his fellow-cilizens called to ihe exercise of a 
dignity, from which his own moderation impelled him, 
when such example was most salutary, to withdraw ; 
and who, while he dedicates the evening of his glo- 



MONTICffiLLO. 



iJ3l 



lious Jays to the pursuits of science and literature, 
shuns none of the humbler duties of private life ; but, 
having filled a seat higher (ban that of kings, suc- 
ceeds with graceful dignitj to that of the good neigh- 
bour, and becomes the friendly adviser, lawyer, phy- 
sician, and even gardener of his vicinity. This is 
the "slill small voice" of philosophy, deeper and 
holier fhan the lightnings and earthquakes which 
have preceded it. What monarch would venture 
thus to exhibit himself in the nakedness of his huma° 
nity ? On what royal brow would the laurel replace 
the diadem ? But they who are born and educated 
to be kings, are not expected to be philosophers. 
This is a just answer, though no great compliment 
either to the governours or the governed. 

My travels had nearly terminated at the Rivan- 
uah, which flows at the foot of Monticello : in trying 
to ford it, my horse and waggon were carried down 
the stream : I escaped with my servant, and by the 
aid of Mr. Jefferson's domesticks, we finally suc- 
ceeded in extricating my equipage from a watery 
grave. Tlie road to Richmond follows the James 
River, and has few features to attract notice. There 
are no towns, and very (ew villages. Of the taverns, 
I have only to remark, that Mrs. Tisley's is a clean, 
comfortable house, and that Mr. Powell, is a very 
civil landlord. 



[ 232 ] 



CHAPTER XXXVI. 



RICHMOND. 

" KiGHMOND," says the author of " Letters from 
Virginia," (and I prefer the lively tints of his pen- 
cil to my own wintry colouring,) " is situated on 
the north bank of James River, about a hundred and 
twenty miles from its mouth, at the Falls, or head 
of tide water. It is built chiefly upon two lofty hills, 
the northern of which is called Sbockoe, (sofne In- 
dian name I suppose,) and the southern, Richmond. 
The former of these furnishes a fine extensive plain 
on its summit, and is the principal seat for dwelling- 
houses, the Capitol, and other publick buildings of 
the city. The two hills are separated by a large 
valley, which again is divided by a little stream that 
runs murmuring through it, till it falls into the river 
at the foot of them ; and parallel to the James is a 
long street, perhaps more than a mile in length, 
chiefly built up with brick houses, for stores and 
other purposes, hence called the brick row. In a 
line with this, and still nearer to the river, are small- 
er streets of less importance, principally occupied 
by warehouses, and, at the end of it, lies the port for 
vessels at the head of the navigation, which they 
call Rocketts. The situation of the place is pictur- 
esque and beautiful beyond ray expectation, even 
after all I had heard of it. The river before the 
town, is about half a mile wide, and is obstructed, 
not only by the rocks, which constitute the Falls, 
but by several wild and fanciful islands, among which 
it flows with a loud and agreeable murmur, very 



RICHMOND. 233 

audible in the stillness of the night. Before you, on 
the opposite side, lies the neat little village of Man- 
chester, with' its fine green fields and meadows, 
skirted with groves of woods, and rising hills, that 
seem to undulate in (he wesftMn horizon. Below, 
the stream having disengaged itself from (he rocks, 
steals silently away from your eye, hiding itself 
among the trees, and appearing again at a liule dis- 
tance, shining in the sun, and reflecting the white 
sails of coming and departing vessels on its silver 
bosom. Besides al! this, the neighbourhood abounds 
with, the finest walks, prospects, groves, and, in 
short, every convenience for sighing, that the lover 
or the poet could desire." As a drawback to 
these beauties, "the private houses are generally 
without taste. They are indeed, for the most part, 
built of coarse bricks, blackened by being burnt with 
coal, which gives rather a sombre air to the town, 
in spite of all the glitter of wealth and fashion in 
the streets. With the publick buildings too, where 
more might be expected, the case is not a gr-eat deal 
betiej. The Governour's house is but an ordinary 
alFair at best. The Capitol, indeed, (though it will 
not bear a critical eye,) standing on the brow of the 
Snockoe hill, and overlooking the surrounding city, 
and country, presents a fine bold object in the pic- 
ture from almost every direction. Its interiour is di- 
vided into various apartments for the publick of- 
fices, courts, and the two houses of the General As- 
sembly. These are spacious and convenient enough ; 
but without any peculiar elegance. In the anti- 
chamber, or passage, is a fine marble statue of 
Washington, executed by our countryman, Houdon, 
in his best style. Opposite to it, in a niche in the 
wall, stands a bust of the Marquis La Fayette, pro- 
bably by the same artist. It is, perhaps, a strong 
proof of the veneration in which the originals are 
held, that the sculptures are not mutilated, though 
they are works of taste. With regard to the in- 

30 



231 



RICHMOND. 



habitants (alwavs fhe best or worst part of a city,^ 
I am sorry (o say (hey are not exactly to my taste; 
that is, not all of them. Perhaps, indeed, I am hard- 
ly well enough acquainted to form a correct judg- 
ment at present ; but I must confess the} do not 
strike me very agreeably at first sight. At least, the 
higher classes (as I hey doubtless consider themselves 
in splfe of their republican government) appear to 
have put on a set of manners by which they proba- 
bly design to please themselves, for they surely can- 
not intend to please any body else. These generally 
live in a state of ambitious rivalship with one another, 
each endeavouring to surpass his neighbour in fash- 
ion and folly, a very unprofitable contest at best. 
After these gentry, however, (who, indeed, are chief- 
ly of foreign extraction, 1 believe,) you may meet 
with maiiy of the true old Virginia breed, frank, 
generous, and hospitable, whom it is a real pleasure 
to shake by the hand. For the ladies, they are 
generally like the rest of their fair countrywomen, 
aad certainly exhibit a great deal, if not ' all, that 
the eve looks for, and the heart desires in woman.' " 
— Letter xxi. 

It is not to be expected that my experience of a 
week empowers me either to confirm, or refute, this 
censure : as far, however, as it went, I found the in- 
habitants of Richmond polite and affable, and well 
disposed to admit strangers to their societies and 
amusements. 

Of the Virginian character, generally, my impres- 
sions were not favourable. They seem, especially 
the plantation-bred Virginians, to have more preten- 
sion than good sense : the insubordination, in which 
they glory, both to parental and scholastick authority, 
produces, as might be expected, a petulance of man- 
ner, and frothiness of intellect, very unlike what we 
mav imagine of the old Romans, to whom, in their 
modesty, the Virginians affect to compare themselves. 
— Having given four Presidents to the United States, 



RICHMOND. 235 

they are fain (o suppose (hej have obtained a mono- 
poly of genius, as well as of power, and hold in (rue 
regal disdain the honest simplicity of their Yankey 
brethren. These observations do not, however, 
apply to the inhabitants of the Upper Country, who 
seem to be generally a race of plain industrious farm- 
ers, with both the sound sense, and unalfected man- 
ner, peculiar to this class of people throughout the 
Union. 

As the Virginians feel destined to govern, and as 
persuasion is a necessary instrument for this purpose, 
eloquence is their favourite study ; but one of their 
contrymen is best able to describe their efforts and 
success : — " The people of this State insist upon it, 
that they have the patent right for making speeches. 
Eloquence, indeed, (of some sort or other) is almost 
the only road to fame and influence in the State. 
Every youth, of course, who has been led to believe 
that he has any talents at all, immediately turns his 
whole attention to the science oj^spouting. The 
consequence is, that the land is literally over-run 
with orators of all sorts and sizes, almost as numerous 
and noisy as tl.ie frogs in the plague of Egypt. — In the 
first place, we have the political spouters, who are found 
in every hole and corner of the favoured land ; but 
particularly in the court-jard and tavern. The ta- 
vern, especially, seems to be a very favourite haunt for 
these young orators ; whether it is that the long porch 
invites them by certain classical assocFatious, from 
its resemblance to the schools of some among the 
ancient rhetoricians; or rather, as others sup- 
pose, that the bar-room contains some secret stimu- 
lants of eloquence, more sovereign than all the pre- 
cepts of Quintilian. It is, indeed, very amusing to 
hear one of these talking Jacks (as v'ou may call 
them,) when it has been properly screwed up, seated 
by the fire, and unwinding itself in long discourses 
upon liberty, the rights of man, tiie freedom of the 
seas, general suffrage, or soraetliing of that sort. Its 



236 RICHMOND. J 

whole conversation is one incessant harangue. In- 
deed, to speak strictly, it never converses at all ; 
but declaims upon yon witJjout any reasonable allow- 
ance for the delicacy of you?- ears. And yet, really 
when it cocks its feet up against the mantle-piece, 
its favourite oratorical attitude, and lets out, as they 
call it, you can form no idea how eloquent it is. — 
Next in order to these come the ' Fourth of July 
Orators,' or as they would doubtless prefer to be 
styled, the ' Orators of the Human Race.' These 
are men who set up once a year (generally in very 
hot weather) to proclaim their independence with a 
loud voice, and abuse the British con amore. In 
fact, they sometimes carry their malice so far, as to 
vent their spite upon the very language they speak 
in, its unoffending parts of speech, and innocent rules 
of syntax, only because they are English, I presume. 
Nothing seems to be requisite for the perfection of 
these things, but a plenty of hard names, abuse against 
tyranny and oppression, a panegyrick upon liberty, 
and five or six apostrophes to the dead heroes of 
the revolution ; the whole accompanied with an en- 
tire new set of mouths and faces made on purpose 
for the occasion. Add to this, the words selected 
for this service must all be as long as possible, ses- 
quipedalia verba ; or tri-syllables at least ; and none 
under that size should be received, any more than 
a man under six feet could have been admitted into 
the King of Prussia's tall regiment. I can only say 
of them, as poor Desdemona said of the mad speech- 
es of her jealous husband, 

"I understand a fury in the words ; 
" But not the words — " 

" But besides these engaging speakers, we have 
still another class*of orators, called Slang-whangers, 
who are also sometimes known by the name of Stump- 
orators, from their generally choosing to deliver 



RICHMOND. 237 

tbeir harangues from the stump of a tree, or a horse- 
block, or some other appropriate place of this sort. 
For jou must know, these are the men who under- 
take to regulate elections, and to change the votes 
in the court-jard, before the opening of the poll. I 
have observed they are all passionately fond of the 
word Republican; which seems to comprise all the 
excellence of oratory in itself, and is generally look- 
ed upon as a very good substitute for both reason 
and common sense." — Letters from Virginia, — Let- 
ter xxii. 

The same lively writer thus describes the impor- 
tation of foreign impostors, who play off on the cre- 
dulity of his countrymen : 

*' All the nations of Europe are very generous to 
us in this way, and we have no right to complain of 
any of them for not furnishing its full quota. In- 
deed, they all seem to pity our poor republicanism, 
and very cheerfully club their mites to give us a de- 
cent stock of their cast-off gentry, to keep up our 
credit in the world. Our old friend, Great Britain, 
in particular, is very good to us indeed. Perhaps 
she thinks it but right to make us some amends for 
the shabby population she gave us to begin wiih. 
However this may be, she is certainly most bountiful 
in her supplies of great men : though to be sure she 
does not send her grand dignitaries themselves, but 
only their cousins and acquaintances, — good enough 
for our market. Thus we can shew men who have 
corrected the speeches of Pitt, at his own request, 
raltled a box with Charles, or even betted against the 
Prince of Wales at Newmarket ; but, alter all, these 
are little fellows by the side of the French marquisses 
and marshals of the empire." — Letter xxiii. 

This cullability of Virginians the writer attributes 
to vanity, and a passion for whatever comes from 
Europe, to which they are still in the habit of look- 
ing up for models in every thing: — "Above all," 
he adds, " Republicans as they are, they have a bu- 



238 RICHMOND. 

man hankering after lords and gentry ; and, as beg- 
gars must never be choosers, it is right for them to 
put up with such as they can get." — Letter xxiii. 

Let me close these extracts (and ihey contain, per- 
haps, no little satirical exaggeration) with a trait of 
feeling, which, as an Englishman, I cannot but con- 
sider as honourable to the Virginian character. The 
Attorney General of the State, at a late publick din- 
ner, gave as a toast, " Wilson, Bruce, and Hutchin- 
son ! The age of chivalry is not past, nor the glory 
of Europe extinguished for ever." 



[ 239 ] 



CHAPTER XXXVII. 



RICHMOND TO CHARLESTON. 



Jan. 





Manchester . 


1 1-2 Miles 


17th, 


Petersburg . . j 


I 22 1-2 




Billings Tavern 


9 




Harrisviile 


23 1-2 




Perci^fal's Tavern 


11 1 4 




Ghoison's Tavern 


9 1-2 


ISth, 


Norlh Carolina 


13 3 4 




Warreiitoa 


16 3 4 


19th, 


Louisburg 


25 




Ailcock's Tavern 


15 1-2 


20th, 


Raleigh . 


16 14 




Averisboro' 


35 


21st, 


Fayettcville 


25 1-2 




Coiinsell'^ Tavern 


15 14 




Lumberton 


17 1-2 




Rowland's Tavern 


13 3-4 




South Carolina 


6 3 4 


22d, 


Newsonie's Tavern . 


11 3-4 




Stage IiGuse 


13 34 




G. Pedee River 


14 12 




Lynch's Creek 


4 1 2 




China Grove . 


15 1-2 




Black River 


7 1-2 


23d, 


Georgetown 


14 




Santee River . 


15 3-4 




Tweden Cottons 


10 1 4 




Wapetaw Church 


17 1-2 




Greenwich 


14 3-4 


24th, 


Charleston 


3 3 4 



421 .3-4 



A GLANCE at the foregoing table indicates the state 
of the country. The stages are no longer marked 
by towns and villages, but by solitary taverns and 
stage-houses. The best part of the country lies be- 
twixt Petersburg and Fayetfeville, being A^it^lin the 
limits of the granite ledge : the soil is a mixture of 



240 RICHMOND TO CHARLESTON. 

sand and clay, tolerably fertile : the woods are gene- 
rally of oak, hickory, and walnut, with here and there 
pine-barrens, and swamps: — but I can say little of 
the state or appearance of the Carolinas, for at 
Richmond I exchanged my convenient Dearborn for 
a seat in the mail, to be conveyed at its discretion to 
Charleston. 

In New England they have adopted the fashion of 
our stage-coaches ; but the primitive " deraocrafical 
machine" is still used in the Southern states ; to era- 
bark in one of which is no light service, for they 
break down on an average twice a week, so that the 
wrecks and the maimed are always to be found on the 
road. Betwixt Richmond and Petersburg all was 
well : the weather was fine, and our horses ran away 
but twice, killed but one pig, and lamed but one pas- 
senger : but on the morning of the 18th the wind 
came from south to north-west, and brought down 
the thermometer to 14° with a heavy fall of snow, in 
which we set off in the dark, packed in every posture 
of purgatory, with trunks, packages and elbows, 
squeezing and distorting our shivering limbs, while 
we were, at the same time, cheered with Ihe'anticipa- 
lion of being upset among the holes and swamps, 
which, now concealed by snow, were to be guessed 
at in the dark by our negro coachman, who, to do 
him justice, managed the matter with what seemed to 
me, miraculous dexterity. I was not sorry to halt at 
Warrenton, and await the next day's mail ; but in one 
night the Roanoke was frozen over, and the ferry 
stopped, so I went on to Fox's tavern, near Louis- 
burg, in a private conveyance with a gentleman I fell 
in with at the tavern. 

I had occasion, during this part of my journey, to 
feel the truth of a common remark, that one suffers 
more through cold in a temperate, or even warm cli- 
mate, than in a cold one. The cold in Canada is so 
completely subdued by stoves within, and furs with- 
out doors, that it seldom causes inconvenience ; where- 
as in Carolina, where I expected to have escaped 



RICHMOND TO CHARLESTOX. 241 

its dominioD, it made travelling highly disagreeable. 
The houses are all built of scanlliinj;, and are worse 
than any thing in the form of dwellings, but the ne- 
gro huts ; for (hey are penetrable at every cre- 
vice; while, from (he usual mildness of the weather, 
doors have beco(ne al(oge(her released from (he duty 
of being shut. Indeed (hey have seUiom a lait h, 
and Mr. Fox, to whotn I was deploring this neglect, 
observed, that they genei-ally considered a door's 
being shut as a sign nobody was at home. It must, 
however, be noticed, that (hey had not, for many 
years, experienced such a severe cold as the present. 
The crew of a schooner, on lake Poncharfrain, was 
frozen to death on the ir,(h. On (he same day (*he 
mercury descended, at Baltimore, (o 6" below zero, 
a more intense cold (ban was ever remembered to 
have been felt there. At Charleston it was down to 
17°, and I found all (he orange-trees with (heir fruit 
looking as if seared by fire. Near Raleigh a man 
was frozen (o death on the 19th, yet, when I was 
there, on the 21st, the thermometer rose to 71°. 

Raleigh is the capital of North Carolina, and seems 
a clean, little country town. At one end of the prin- 
cipal, or rather, only street, stands the Governour's 
brick-house, and at the other the senate, or court- 
house, surrounded by a grass plot neatly laid out. 
The houses are small, and built of scantling. Some 
of them have their foundations of (he (alcous granite 
of the ledge, which is (he only s(one in the country. 
The total want of limestone, and scarcity of brick 
earth, render it extremely difficult and expensive, 
to give buildings any degree of stability. The stage 
stops half a day at Raleigh, which enabled me to 
have a morning's quail shooting with two gentlemen, 
one of whom had fallen in love with my pointer, on 
my alighting at the tavern ; and if any conclusion 
can be drawn from two chance specimens, society 
at Raleigh is by no means in a pitiable comlition. 

At Faye(teville (he road again crosses the granite 
ledge, and traverses a desolate tract of swamp and 
31 



242 RICHMOND TO CHARLESTOIf . 

sandy pine-woods >o Georgetown. In all this dis- 
fiince, Luiiiberlofi is ihe onl> cliupp of houses lo 
which courtesy can apply the nan)e of a village : 
the favern here is kepf by a general of mililia, who 
seemed, indeed, to have more of the spirit of Ihe sol- 
dier than of the landlord, for he declined taking pay- 
ment for the refreshfiient he very civilly prepared 
for »ne. A tract of country like the above can have 
litMe variety of scenery ; the heavy dreariness of the 
pine-barrens was, however, sometimes relieved by 
the verdure of the swamps, which were covered with 
bright evergreens, through which the road frequent- 
ly ran for some distance, as through a park shrub- 
bery. 

Our passage of the Pedee was picturesque enough, 
but the rolourir)g was something too sombre to be 
beautiful : we approached the river at night; several 
creeks were previously to be crossed ; a heavy show- 
er had fallen and frozen on its descent, so that every 
branch and twig was incased in ice : the banks of 
these creeks were high ; the bridges roiisisled mere- 
ly of pine-logs laid cross-ways, without parapet or 
railing; they were now as slippery as glass, and the 
horses, as is usual in these sandy roads, had no 
sh<>e-i. I was dozing in the dark when I was awaken- 
eil by the voice of the driver, vowing that nothing 
should tempt him to encounter a danger like that he 
had just escaped. He had past one bridge, another 
remained, and he kept his vow : but what was to be 
done to escape sleeping in Ihe woods ? The bridge 
mi^ht be avoided by an old road through a swamp, 
supposed to be impassable : here, however, we were 
to make Ihe attempt. Branches of pine were cut 
and lighted for torches, and we proceeded through 
the woods. After some mistakes and more oaths 
we found the bog, which indicated we were in the 
right way — "to be upset," I said to myself; but wo 
dashed through it up to the traces, with crash, whip, 
and halloo. Such an equipage, in such a place, with 
the torches, and negroes, and harsh sounds, more 



RICHMOND TO CHARLESTON. 243 

resembled a vehicle for rhe transport of the damned 
to their infernal dwelling, than a stage-coach in a 
rational country. Nor was the resemblance dimin- 
ished when we arrived at the river brmk : a fire was 
kindled, and gleamed redly on the black-looking 
stream below ; and after many blasts of the horn, 
an old canoe, steered by a shivering negro, wrapt "in 
a blanket, came to (erry ns over: '' Aoc/iier delta 
livida palude." Willi difticully we slowed ourselves 
into his wet, crazy bark, and weie landed in the 
mud on the opposite shore, whence we scrambled to 
the ferry-house and lavern. It was now four in the 
morning ; a sharp visaged old woman was waiting 
our arrival, and had prepared a meal of no ten)pting 
aspect, which she chose (o call supper, and which 
it was expected passengers should pay for, if not 
eat. The driver's man, who had crossed wilh us, 
now wanted to return : the old woman l)egan to rouse 
the negro, who, shivering in the cold fit of an ague, 
liad crept to his hut ; he replied to her shrill tones 
that he was too ill to come out, and should die if she 
forced him; ''You can die but once,", said the bel- 
dame, "so come you must." This man was an 
African, and could scarcely speak English intelligi- 
bly ; doubtless, however, he felt the blessed exchange 
from his own barbarous country to a land of reason 
and liberty. 

A singular peculiarity of vegetation marks the 
proximity of the coast. The trees within thirty 
miles of it are covered wilh a curious vegetable ilra- 
pery, which hangs from them in long curling tendrils, 
of a gray or pale green colour. It bears a small blue 
flower, succeeded by a plumed seed, which adheres 
to the bark of trees. The live oak seems its most 
genial soil; but it suspends itself from trees and 
shrubs of every description ; and as it has no tenaci- 
ty, but hangs like loose gauze drapery, it prob.tbly 
does them no injury. The Carolinians use il for 
stuffing (natrasses, and they observe it is never found 
without the range of the yellow fever. 



[ 244 ] 



CHAPTER XXXVIII. 



CHARLESTON. 

Streets unpaved and narrow, small wooden houses, 
from among whiili rise, in everv quarter of the town, 
stalely mansions, snrroiindet) from top to bottom with 
broad verandas, and standing within little gardens 
full of orange trees, palmeltoes, and magnolias, are 
features which give Charleston an expression belong- 
ing rather to the south of Europe, than to the Tento- 
nick cities of the north. Perhaps, taking into 
view its large blaok population and glowing tempera- 
ture in January, it is not very unlike some of the 
cities on the Mediterranean coast of Africa.* In 
other respects it is a noble monument of what human 
avarice can effect : its 'soil is a barren burning sand ; 
with a river on either side, overflowing into pestilen- 
tial marshes, which exhale a contagion so pernicious 
as To render sleeping a single night within its in- 
fluence, during the summer months, an experiment of 
the utmost hazard. Even the town is no place of re- 
fuge during the hottest part of the season : all the in- 
habitants who can afford it, then fly to a barren sand- 
bank in the harbour, called Sullivan's Island, contain- 
inii one well, and a few palmeltoes : here they dwell 
in miserable wooden tenements, trembling in every 
stoim, lest, (as very frequently happens,) their hid- 
ing places should be blown from over their lieads, or 

* 1 observed another Orientali».m ; the office of <:caven<rers is 
filled by csirr on vulturos, wlio are frotortrd by law for their 
services, and tMuilied to devour all oflkl uuder the guarantee 
of the repubiick. 



CHARLESTON. 245 

deluged by an inundation of the sea. Buf whaf will 
nol men do, and bear, for money ? These pesiileniial 
marshes are found to produce good rice, and Ihe ad- 
jacent alluvions cotton ; true it is, no European frame 
could support the labour of cultivation, but Alrica 
can furnish slaves, and thus, amid contagion and suf- 
fering, both of oppressors and oppressed, has Charles- 
ton become a wealthy city — nay, a religious one 
too ; to judge by the number of churches built, build- 
ing, and to be built. 

I inquired the cause of what seemed to me an ano- 
maly in the history of planters, and was informed, 
that this devotional access came on about the period 
of the French revolution, in consequence of very se- 
vere alarm at the danger to which religion and social 
order were exposed. The Carolinians proceeded in 
consequence to amend their lives, not as a mere mo- 
ralist might have imagined, by amending their slave 
code, by providing for the instruction, and paving 
the way for the total emancipation of the many thou- 
sands of their fellow-creatures, whom they held in 
stripes and bondage. This, indeed, would have 
been, to a certain extent, imitating the revolutionists 
themselves ; they theretore took, not only an easier 
course, but one they had reason io think much more 
acceptable, because a more personal compliment, to 
the Deity whom they professed to serve ; they built, 
and frequented many churches, heard, and read many 
sermons, and bought and sold their brethren as be- 
fore. 

Charleston has a great reputation for hospitality, a 
virtue very generally conceded to the Americans, 
even by those, who are willing to deny them every 
other : in my judgment, their fame in this respect, as 
much exceeds their deserving, as in most oiher cases 
it falls below it. Hospitality, in the true sense of the 
word, means that liberal entertainment, which spreads 
a couch and table for the stranger, merely because 
he is a stranger : this was the hospitality of the an- 



246 CHARLESTON. 

cients, and is still that of Ihe Arabs, Tartars, and im- 
corrupfed Indian tribes ; it was also l/ial ol" the Ame- 
ricans ihecnselves in a less advanced state of society : 
Mr. Jefferson told me, thai in his fathers time, it was 
no uncommon thing for gentlemen to post their ser- 
vants on the Diain road, for the purpose of amicably 
■way-laying, and t)rinti;ing to their houses any fra\el- 
lers who might chance to pass. Of such violence not 
a par'icle is now to be a[)prehended, at leasl in the 
old Slates. While I was in tbe north, I was constant- 
ly told of the hospitality of the soiitli : At Piiiladel- 
phia, I fond it ice-bonnd, al Baltimore there was in- 
deed a thaw, but at VV ashington the frost, probably 
from the congenial influence of politictis, was harder 
than ever ; the theiinometer rose but little at Rich- 
mond, and,^ when I arrived at Charleston, I was en- 
tertained, not with its owr) hospitality, but with an 
eulogium upon that of Bos'on. — I did not retrace my 
steps, to put the matter to proof. — The experience 
of an individual wotdd not be very conclusive, were 
hospitality a discriminating virtue ; hii! its essence is 
prodigality, and the name of stranger, lite omIv requi- 
site passport to its favour. Of such hospitality, the 
traveller will find nothing,* except, indeed, his rank 
or character should be such, as to give an eclat to 
his entertainers. The ordinary pilgrim must be con- 
tent, if his lettets of introduction procure him, as they 
certainly will, a courteous recep'ion, and a dinner. 
He will also find a ready and polite admission into 
general society. And this ought to satisfy him. 

* If I liave any where in my travels spolcen of hospitality, il 
was for want of a tjetter word to express t!ie politeness with 
which a stransjer is occasionally entertained. Of true ho-^pita- 
lity I met with bnt two instances, one in a yonnjr Farmer, who 
lived on the Grand River, and who, thongh in very n)iddling 
circumstances, most liberally received and entertained me, 
during my visit to ihe Ind an S.'^ttiemenis. Tl>e other at Vlrs. 
Nairn's, where a tatile and hed are always pr"pared tor travel- 
lers. I might, perhaps, make a third of tJie rosy Priest of Les 
Eboulemens. 



CHARLESTOJf. 24T 

As long a3 fhere are la-veins open he has no claim, 
and every civility is a mailer of grace. The human 
mind, is, however, slow to discanl an opinion il has 
once cherished. Hospifalily is slill talked of, both 
by Americans and strangers, as if it were slill alive. 
The free reciprocalion of civilities betwixt citizens of 
ditFerent states, when connected by commercial or 
other ties, fosters the delusion. The New York 
merchant is liberally entertained at Charleston, and 
he of Charleston receives an adequate return of rivi- 
lities at New York. This is not hospitality, but a 
mntual exchange, founded on mnlual convenience. 
Let not, however, a change of customs be considered 
a reproach, rfociely has, in ail countries, moved 
through the same gradations, and each stage of its 
progress has been marked by its appropriate virtues, 
crimes, and follies. Hospitality belongs to that pe- 
riod, which in a certain point of view, is to be styled 
barbarous ; and would become a super-human virtue, 
were it to survive ihe moment when it ceases to be 
as pleasing to the entertainer as necessary to his 
guest. It probably still lingers on the banks of the 
Mississippi, il will accompany the advanced guard of 
settlers down the shores of the Missouri ; be driven 
from thefice to the neighbourhood of the Columbia, 
and finally drowned in the Pacifick. 

I sailed from Charleston on tlie 2'2d of February, 
and on the liOlh of March welcomed the hills of my 
country. 






APPENDIX 



No. I. 

OF SLAVERY IN THE UNITED STATES. 

There seems little in slavery and slave dealing 
to captivate either the judgment or the heart, yet 
they have always found advocates, not merely among 
dealers and planters, but men who appear to love 
them for themselves : this too without any natural 
sympathy with cruelty, for many would shudder to 
inflict on nn individual of their acquaintance, an iota 
of the suffering they uphold as fit to be the portion 
and daily bread of thousands, but from the influence 
of authority, prejudice, or from an inaptitude to in- 
vestigate any subject beyond the line of their ordi- 
nary occupations. 

As such persons scarcely affect to reason, or in- 
quire, it is difficult to discover on what grounds 
they rest their opinions : the few who pretend to 
speak from experience, have seldom more to urge 
than the experience of good West-India dinners ; and 
how can any thing be -iwrong where people dine so 
well? The many, who have made up their minds 
by mere dint of not thinking on the matter, take fast 
hold upon some one of the many bold falsehoods, or 
skilful sophisms, with which those interested in the 
traffick are ever ready to furnish such as find it 
32 



250 APPENDIX. 

troublesome, or fancy it unsafe, to use their own un- 
derstandings ; — as for instance — 

Negro slaves are belter uflf than the poorer classes 
in many Eftropean countries. — They are quite con- 
tented with their situation, except when perverted 
by their pretended friends. — It is the proprietor's 
interest to use them well, and therefore he does use 
them well ; — or the abolitionists are meihodists, ja- 
cobins, or enthusiasts, and therefore unfit to be 
trusted with reforms of any kind ; besides, slavery 
'has existed time out of mind, and why is the present 
generation to pretend to more wisdom and humanity 
than their forefathers? Their very good nature leads 
them to disbelieve most of the cruelties they hear 
related as connected with the slave-system, or should 
the evidence of particular facts occasionally over- 
power their prejudice, they readily admit, that as 
negroes are constitutionally different from while men, 
they require a different treatment, so that what may 
seem harsh to us, and would in fact be harsh to peo- 
ple of our complexion, is no more to ihem than a 
salubrious regimen. Such advocates, however con- 
temptible as logicians, are of great numerical impor- 
tance. They constitute the standing army of cor- 
ruption in all shapes ; are always to be tbund among 
the supporters of power, and may be depended on 
as the steady friends of whatever is established. 
To the efforts of the enlightened few, they oppose 
the inert resistance of impassive matter; a resistance 
which gains respect by seeming disinterested, and 
remains unassailable, because, like the tortoise, it 
presents no vital point of attack. Self-interest takes 
the field with better armour, and more enterprise, 
but the combat would be short-lived, did he not, 
after each discomfiture, find refuge within the shell 
of his simple ally. Fortunately, this class of good 
sort of credulous gentlemen, is less numerous in the 
States than elsewhere : few can be uninformed, or 
are unaccustomed practically to examine every ques- 



APPENDIX. . 231 

tion connected with the publick weal ; and (his dis- 
position has been highly favourable to the cause of 
euiancipalion. 

Slavery has been formally excluded frona the con- 
stitution of each state admitted into the Union since 
Kentucky. Even in V^iiginia, it seems to have few 
supporters out of the immediate classes of dealers 
ami planters. During my journey through the up- 
per, and mountainous parts of the country, J had 
frequent occasion to hear farmers, and men of all 
descriptions, express their dislike to it, not indeed, 
as a violation of humanity, but as a political evil, 
which substituted bad labour for good, an unsound 
population for an healthy one. Jn fact, the only 
description of cultivators really interested in its pre- 
servation, are the planters of the coast-line, whose 
infectious rice-grounds can be cultivated by negroea 
only : here theretore the resistance to its abolition 
will be lasting and steady ; but even here nature in- 
terposes to diminish the evil. Experience begins 
to l^-fich, that health and labour are preferable to 
indoieuce and disease. The low marshy coast lands 
are daily abandoned, while the mountain country is 
peopling with its emigrants. So much is this the 
case, ttiut J was told by many, that the wolves and 
bears vvhich formerly inhabited the latter, have suc- 
ceeded to the wildernesses of the former, in which 
they are now almost exclusively to be found. An- 
other favourable circumstance is, that rice-lands 
make no adequate return if beyond the reach of the 
tidewater; but the rivers of the Carolinas and Geor- 
gia, descending through a sandy flat, arrive at the 
sea with so little force of current, that they are 
unable to remove the sand-banks and other obstruc- 
tions constantly forming at their mouths : the har- 
bours are therefore becoming more and more un- 
safe : the bar of Charleston is with diflSculty passa- 
ble by a vessel of 300 tons, except under very fa- 
Tourable circumstances of wind and tide. From the 



252 APPENDIX. 

same causes, the ascent of the tide inland is con- 
tinually diminishing, and the quantify of land favoura- 
ble to the culture of rice, necessarily decreases in 
the sanae proportion. 

Thus, while the Eastern and Central States ag- 
gregately, and the most enlightened individuals of 
all states, continue to wage the combat of humani- 
ty, the dominion of slavery is narrowed on every 
side, and the hope may be indulged, that its total 
extinction is neither improbable, nor even very far 
distant. 

It remains to satisfy a melancholy curiosity res- 
pecting the actual condition of slaves in the United 
States both in law and fact. Information on the lat- 
ter point is little attainable by a cursory traveller. 
The planter will not present himself to his examina- 
tion, wifh his mefnorandum book of the stripes and 
tortures he has inflicted, and of the groans which 
have followed : the information he affords, should he 
afford any, must come through a doubly distorted 
medium; as a planter he is interested in concealing 
whatever militates against the slave system : as an 
American he is interested in vindicating the national 
character to a foreigner. The testimony of the slave 
would gain no credit from the enemies to his eman- 
cipation ; nor will travelling through the country 
suflice to shew the workings of a system, the most 
odious part of which is necessarily withdrawn from 
the publick eye. I can therefore delineate such 
broad outlines only as are incapable of concealment ; 
leaving, not to the imagination, but to inductive rea- 
son, the filling up of the picture. 

The law by which slaves and free-men of colour 
are governed in the Carolinas (and J believe the same, 
or a similar code prevails in all the Slave States) 
is a Provincial Act past in 1740, and made perpe- 
tual in 1783. It commences by a heart chilling 
enunciation ; 



APPENDIX. 253 

"Whereas in his Majesty's Plantations, &c. 
Slavery has been allowed, be it enacted, That all 
ne^jioes, muladoes, &c. who are, or shall hereafter 
be, in this province, and all their issue and off- 
spring, born, and to be born, shall be, and are here- 
by declared to be, and remain for ever hereafter 
absolute Slaves." A clause follows from which the 
most iniquitous oppressions ace at ttiis day deduc- 
ed ; "It shall always be presumed that every nt^ro 
is a slave unless the contrary can be made ap- 
pear." 

The t)th clause gives two justices of the peace, 
and three, of five freeholders, the power of trying 
slaves for capital otiences, and of carrying their sen- 
tence into effert ; that is ot inflicting such manner 
of death "as they shall judge will be most efiectua! 
to deter others nofn offending in like manner." 

The I3lh clause admits the evidence of all free 
negroes, and of any slave against a slave " without 
oath." 

Clause 14th. " And whereas slaves may be har- 
boured, &c. by free negroes, and such free negjoes 
may escape punishment for want of sufficient and 
legal evidence against them, be it enacted, That the 
evidence of any free Indian, nesro, it,c. or slave, 
without oath, shall in like manner be allowed and 
admitted against such free negroes, &,c. 

The 34th clause prohibits any master from suffer- 
ing a slave to traffick on his own account, thus cut- 
ting off the most unobjectionable mode by which the 
slave of a benevolent master might ascend, through 
an equality of condition, to an equality of rights with 
the white man. 

The 37th clause presents an exquisite specimen 
of that legislative cant and cruelty wiili which the 
governments of all nations, from time to lime, edify 
their country and mankind ; "And whereas cruelty 
is not only highly unbecoming those who profess 
themselves Christians, but is odious in the eyes of 



254 APPENDIX. 

all men who have any sense of virtue or humanitj, 
therefore, to restrain and prevent barbarity from 
being exercised towards slaves, be if enacted. That 
any person wilfully nurdering a slave shall forfeit 
7001. currency, (i. e. 100/. sterling:) and if any per- 
son shalt on a sudden heat and passion, or by undue 
correction, kill his own slave, or slave of another 
person, he shall forfeit 350/. currency, (i. e. 50/. 
sterling.") 

The 38th enacts a penalty of 14/. for cutting out 
the tongue, dismembering and other tortures, inflict- 
ed by any other instrument than a horsewhip, cow- 
skin, or small stick. 

The 39th is a legislative premium upon perjury ; 
it enacts, That when a slave is maimed or cruelly 
used, his owner shall be presumed guilty ; " unless 
he clear himself by evidence, or make oath to the 
contrary." 

By clause 43d any white man meeting above 
seven slaves on a high road together " shall and may 
whip each of them, not exceeding twenty lashes on 
the bare back." 

The 45th inflicts a penalty of 100/. currency for 
teaching a slave to write. 

Such is the code by which Christians govern 
Christians ; nor is it, in any point, a dead letter. 
The fears of the proprietors are tremblingly alive, 
and racked with the dread of an insurrection, in 
which they must expect the measure they have 
meted. A military police is constantly kept up in 
Charleston, ajid every man of colour, whether slave 
or free, found in the streets after dark, without a 
pass, is taken up, and punished. In fact, the con- 
dition of the free man of colour is scarcely pre- 
ferable to that of a slave : subjected to the same 
mode of trial, exposed to the same jealous surveil- 
lance, carefully excluded from all the rights and 
privileges of citizenship, and surrounded by every 
kind of snares, both legal and illegal, his freedom 



APPENDIX. 255 

seems but a mockery superadded to oppression. 
The statute declares that every man of colour shall 
be presumed a slave : every newspaper is a com- 
mentary on the injustice and barbarity of this enact- 
ment ; every day men of colour are advertised as 
taken up on suspicion of being slaves : they are 
committed to jail, and if no owner appears, are 
sold to pay expenses. But the direct operation of 
the law is not all the free man of colour has to 
dread. 

The humane exertions of some gentlemen of the 
Charleston bar have lately brought to light a singu- 
lar system for kidnapping free negroes, and selling 
them as slaves into Kentucky, or any State at a 
distance from their connexions. The agents were 
a justice of the peace, a constable, and a slave 
dealer. 

The process was as simple as unblushing villainy 
could devise. A victim having been selected, one 
of the "firm applied to the j ustice upon a sham charge 
of assault, or similar offence, for a writ, which was 
immediately issued and /served by the constable, 
and the negro conveyed to prison. Here, without 
friends or money, he is to await his trial for some 
unknown crime, charged against him by some un- 
known accuser : no wonder if in this desolate con- 
dition his spirits sink, and his fears anticipate the 
worst : the constable now appears, exaggerates the 
dangers of his situation ; explains ijow small is 
his chance of being liberated, even if innocent, by 
reason of the amount of the jail fees and other legal 
expenses ; but he knows a worthy man who is in- 
terested in his behalf, and will do what is necessary 
to procure his freedom, upon no harder condition 
than an engagement to serve him for a certain number 
of years. It may be supposed, the negro is persuad- 
ed ; " influenced perhaps, (as the counsel for the 
defendants observed, on the trial,) by the charms of 
a country life." The worthy slave dealer now ap- 



256 APPENDIX. 

pears on the stage. The indenture of bondage is 
ratified In presence of the worthy magistrate and 
constable, who share the price of blood, and the 
victim is hurried on ship-board to be seen no more. 

This traffiirk had been long carried on, when hu- 
manity discovered and exposed it in a court of jus- 
tice ; but since, by the present law, there is no such 
offence as man-stealing, it could be punished as false 
imprisonment only. Should not however the shame 
of discovery produce a stronger impression on the 
parties engaged in this iniquitous traffick, than can 
be expected from their depraved habits, it is more 
th in probable, it will continue to be carried on with 
keener, and perhaps more atrocious dexterity than 
befo'-e. 

He must be a very sanguine enthusiast in favour 
of human nature,* who believes that the negro, thus 
protected by the laws, will be very tenderly cherish- 
ed by his master. The uncontrolled will of the 
most virtuous individual would be a fearful thing to 
live under, but the brutal passions of the sordid, the 
cruel, and the ignorant, scourges which might well 
*' nppal the guilty and confound the free,'* are the 
rule bv which at least nine-tenths of the slave popu- 
lation are governed. If so governed, they are mildly 
and justly governed, we must admit the constant 
operation in their favour of a miracle strong enough 
to invert the whole moral order of nature. To 
render tigers granivorous would be comparatively 
easy. 

It is not impossible, but that the house servants 
and personal dofuesticks of humane and enlightened 
masters, may be in a condition not in every respect 
much worse than that of persons filling the same 
station in European countries ; but it is not from 

* The \bolitionists are charged with an affectation of phi- 
lanthropy, because they think black men have the safrae feel- 
ings With white; but it is the very sobriety of reason, to as- 
cribe to planters the virtues of angels. 



APPENDIX. 257 

the good fortune of Ihis minute portion, we can de- 
duce a fair estimate of the condition of the many. 
It is in the plantation, and principally, perhaps, 
among the petty proprietors, the work of torture 
goes on. An occasional instance of atrocity some- 
times meets the publick eye, and sheds a lurid light 
upon a region " where Hope never comes." 

I shall advert to a few such particulars, in the 
mode of treating slaves, as being matters of publick 
notoriety, admit of no dispute, and therefore, afford 
true bases, upon which to discuss the question of 
their physical enjoyments.^ — First then for their lodg- 
ing. If there be any sensation to which the negro 
is by constitution peculiarly alive, it is that of cold. 
I have mentioned the degree of cold in the Caroli- 
uas during my journey through them ; this it must 
be owned, was greater than is usual, so far south as 
the Roanoke, but a much less degree is suflScient to 
chill frames unbraced by a climate hot and moist 
in summer to an excess. In Maryland and Virginia 
several months of the winter are as severe as in En- 
gland.* 

The hut which is to shelter the negro during this, 
to him, inclement season, is built of logs or unsquared 
trunks of pine trees, so carelessly put together, that 
as I travelled through the country by night, the 
fire-light siione through every part of them, as 
through wire lanterns ; true it is, they may have 

*"Cette cSte (L'Atlantique') eprouve des aUaq-.ies de gelees assez 
vives dans lea r|uarante jours qui suivent le solRtice d'hiver A Norfolk, 
le 14 Fevrier, 1798, il toraba dvms uiie nuit quatre pieds de neige ; et a 
CharlestoD nieme par les 32* de latitude, le imrcure tombe jusqua' k 
quatre degrea sons zero (selon Liancourt,) et la terrc gele fernie jusqua' a. 
deux pouces d'epaisseur dans une seule nuit. Par inverse sur toute la 
cote, depuis le Patomac, les chaleurs, des un mois avant le solstice d'ete, 
sonts si fortes, que pendant quatre mois le niercure s'^leve coiumunement 
apres midi, entre 2^ et 24"." Volney, t. i. p. 141. Observing after- 
wards on the eff<;ct produced by these changes of temperature, he adds, 
" C'est encore par I'elfpt de cette habitude des organes, qu' a Charlestcu 
ou se plaint du froid quand le thermometre est a. •10'^ ou I'i" sur glace, 
et que I'on y brule, selon la remarque de Liancourt, autant de bois qu'a 
I'hiladeiphie ou le mercure tombe li"* plus bas." Id. p. 152. 

.33 



258 APPENDIX. 

wood forthe fefclilng, but il is no trifling addition io 
their daily toil, that they must cut and bring it in, 
and have their night's rest perpetually broken, by the 
obligafii n of keeping up their fires. 

To talk of furniture and conveniences in such 
cabins is superfluous ; a few gourds and wooden 
utensils comprise their whole stock : as for bedding, 
a negro is supposed to require none. 

While I was sitting in the publick room of the 
tavern at Charlottevilie, the master of some negroes 
was making arrangements relative to their hire by 
another man for the season,* when one of them request- 
ed, in the name of the rest, that they might be allow- 
ed the usual blanket a-piece, which they had not 
received in their former service. This trifling inci- 
dent informed me to what kind of accommodation 
an equitable master considers his slave entitled ; — 
a wretched cabin and a single blanket. For their 
clothing, with the exceptions I have already mention- 
ed, I observed it almost invariably to be ragged and 
miserable in the extreme. 

The description of their food is well known; Rice 
and Indian meal, with a little dried fish ; it is, in 
fact, the result of a calculation of the cheapest nutri- 
ment on which human life can be supported. I have 
heard, indeed, of the maq^ luxuries the negro might 
enjoy were he not too indolent ; of the poultry and 
vegetables he might raise round his hut ; but his un- 
conquerable idleness masters all other feelings. I 
have selilom heard an argument against the negroes 
that was not double-edged. If they are, indeed, so 
indolent by nature, that even a regard for their own 
comforts proves insuflScient to rouse them to exertion, 
with what colour can it be asserted that they feel it 
no misfortune to be compelled to daily labour for 

* Wlien an owner has no work for his slaves he coramonlj 
lets them out for the year, or season, to any one in want of - 
bands. 



I APPENDIX. ' 259 

another ? Is the sound of the whip so very exhilarat- 
ing thai it dispels at once indolence and suflering? 
But I admit the fact of their indolence. The human 
mind fits itself to its situation, and to the demands 
which are made upon its energies. Cut olf hope for 
the future, and freedom for the present, superadd a 
due pressure of bodily suffering, and personal degra- 
dation, and you have a slave, who, of whatever zone, 
nation, or complexion, will be, what the poor African 
is, torpid, debased, and lowered beneath the standard 
of humanity. 

To inquire if, so circumstanced, he is happy, 
would be a question idly ridiculous, except that the 
affirmative is not only gravely maintained, but con- 
stitutes an essential moral prop of the whole slave 
system. Neither they who affirm, nor they who 
deny, pretend to any talisman by which the feelings 
of the heart may be set in open day ; but if general 
reasoning be resorted to, since pain and pleasure are 
found to be the necessary result of the operation of 
certain accidents on the human constitution, the 
aggregate of our sensations (that is, our happiness or 
misery) must be allowed to depend on the number 
and combination of these accidents. ** U you prick 
us, do we not bleed? If you tickle us, do we not 
laugh ? If you poison us, do we not die ?" 

Should there be any unknown principle in the 
negro's constitution, which enables him to convert 
natural effects into their contraries, and so despise 
contingencies, whether of good or evil, he may pride 
himfielf on having over-past the glory both of saints 
and stoicks ; but the fact would no more justify his 
oppressors, than did the stubborn endurance of 
Epictelus, the barbarity of his master, who broke his 
leg. It would be too much, first to inflict a cruelty, 
and then to take credit for the patience with which 
it is supported ; but the fact itself is, in this case, 
more than doubtful. That to a certain point the feel- 
ings of the slave grow callous under bondage, may 
be conceded : this is the mercy of Nature : but that 



:260 AFPESDI31. 

ther are whollr eslinguisJied by su3"ering. is con- 
tradiclpJ bj tacts of too palpable evidence; one of 
which is, that it is no uncommon thing for negroes to 
commit suicide. This I heard from a sentieman of 
Ciiarleston; and I have since met with the sliil more 
unexceptionable testimony oi a friend to the Slave 
Trade. 

Dr. Williamson, in his *' Medical and Miscellane- 
on< Observations, relative to the West India Islands," 
observes, " Negroes anticipate that they will, upon 
death removing I hem from that country, be restored 
to their native land, and enjov their friends' societj in 
a future state. The ill-disposed to their masters, will 
sometimes be guiltv of suicide; or by a resolute 
determination resort to dirt-eating; and (hence pro- 
duce disease, and at length death.'' i. 93. This is 
the kind of man who, should he ever hear of the 
death o\ Cato, would call it the result of "an ill dis- 
position towards his master, CcPsar.'' 

I remeuiber to have once heard a person assert, 
from his own experience, that a cargo of Africans 
expressed great pleasure on finding themselves made 
slaves, on their arrival in America. A further expla- 
nation, however, removed the seeramg improbability 
of this anecdote. They imaiined they had been 
purchased tor the purpose of beinj eaten, and there- 
fore rejoiced in their ignorance, when they discovered, 
they were only to be held in bondage. 

The natural inferiority of the nejro race has been 
frequently urged, as an excuse for enslaving them; 
as if, admitting the t'act, superiority of intellect con- 
ferred a riiht of oppression. It is to be regretted, 
that Mr. Jederson has, to a certain extent, lent the 
sanction of his name to this opinion, not indeed to 
justify practices which no man more sincerely ab- 
hors;* bat as the result of deliberate inquiry. The 

* '• I tremble for taj cotuitrv." sav? he. •■when I reflect 
that God i$ just ; thai his justice cannot sleep for erer." 
Notes on Virginia, p. 241. 



APPENDIX. 261 

author ot *' Letters tVom Virginia," discusses his 
arguments on this subject, and 1 tluiik proves tbeui 
to be ill-grounded. 1 1 1 am not niistyken in his cha- 
acter, the philosopher of iMonticello will be himself 
among the tirst to rejoice in his own tiefeat. 

I forbear entering upoti a question ;dreadj decided 
by the irretVagab'.e evidence ot" facts. 

A black empire has arisen amid Kuropean settle- 
ments. Do the publick proceediccs, and details of its 
government bespeak any inieiuuitv to fhose of white 
men .' The state p.iptrs of Hajti 30 to be distin- 
guished from those o( European p<<unt -es, onlv bj 
superiour energy, and more exalted .««ru!iments ; and 
while the manners and politics oi Petion emulate 
those of his republican neii;hbou;s, the cQurt of Cbris- 
toplie has at least as much liiUiiiig and foolery, as ma- 
ny lords and ladies of the b'-dchutntier, lords in wait- 
ing, stars and ribbons, gildt-ii co'ches, and laced but- 
ton-holes, as those of his brotker potentates, all over 
the world. 

I shall conclude, by an account of the trial and 
execution of a negro, which took place during my 
stay at Charleston. 

A man died on board a merchant ship, apparently 
in consequence of poison U)ixed with the dinner serv- 
ed up to the ship's company. The cabin-boy and 
cook were suspected, because they were, from 
their occupations, the only persons on board who did 
not partake of the mess, the etlects of which began 
to appear as soon as it was tasted. As (he olfence 
was committed on the high seas, the cook, though a 
negro, became entitled to the benefit of a jury, and, 
with the cabin-boy, was put on his trial. The boy, 
a fine looking lad, and wholly unabashed by his situa- 
tion, was readily acquitted. The negro's turn was 
next. He was a man of low stature, ill-shapen, and 
with a countenance singularly disgusting. The proofs 
against him were, first, that lie was cook ; so who else 
could have poisoued the mess ? It was indeed over- 



262 ' APPENDIX. , 

looked, that two of the crew had absconded since the 
ship came into port. Secondly, he had been heard 
to utter expressions of ill-humour before he went on 
board : that part of the evidence was indeed sup- 
prest, which went to explain these expressions. The 
real proof however was written in his skin, and in the 
uncouth lines of his countenance. He was found 
guilty. 

Mr. Crafts, junior, a gentleman of the Charleston 
bar, who from motives of humanity had undertaken 
his defence, did not think a man ought to die for bis 
colour, albeit it was the custom of the country ; and 
moved in consequence for a new trial, on the ground 
of partial and insufficient evidence ; but the judge, 
who had urj^ed his condemnation with a vindictive 
earnestness, intrenched himself in forms, and found 
(he law gave him no power in favour of mercy, lie 
then forwarded a representation of the case to the 
President, through one of the senators of the Stale ; 
but the senator ridiculed the idea of interesting him- 
self for the life of a negro, who was therefore left to 
his cell and the hangman. In this situation he did 
not however forsake himself; and it was now, when 
prejudice and persecution had spent their last arrow 
on iilra, that he seemed to put on his proper nature, 
to vindicate not only his innocence, but the moral 
equality of his race, and those mental energies which 
thewhite man's pride would deny to the shape of his 
head and the woolliness of his hair. Maintaining the 
most undeviating tranquillity, he conversed with ease 
and cheerfulness, whenever his benevolent counsel, 
who continued his kind attentions to the last, visited 
his cell. I was present on one of these occasions, and 
observed his tone and manner, neither sullen nor 
desperate, but quiet and resigned, suggesting what- 
ever occurred to him on the circumstances of his own 
case, with as much calmness as if he had been uninte- 
rested in the event ; yet as if he deemed it a duty to 
omit none of the means placed within his reach for 



APPENDIX. 263 

vindicating his innocence. He had constantly atten- 
ded the exhortations of a Methodist preacher,"^ who 
for conscience-sake, visited " those who were in pris- 
on ;" and having thus strengthened his spirit with 
religion, on the morning of his execution, breakfasted 
as usual, heartily ; but before he was led out, he re- 
quested permission to address a few words of advice 
to the companions of his captivity. '• I have observ- 
ed much in them, he added, which requires to be 
amended, and the advice of a man in my situation may 
be respected.'* A circle was accordingly formed in 
his cell, in the midst of which' he seated himself, and 
addressed them at some length, with a sober and col- 
lected earnestness of manner, on the profligacy which 
he had noted in their behaviour, while they had been 
fellow prisoners ; recommending to them the rules of 
conduct prescribed by that religion, in which he now 
found his support and consolation. 

Certainly, if we regard the quality and condition 
of the actors only, there is an infinite distance be- 
twixt this scene and the parting of Socrates with his 
disciples ; should we however put away from our 
thoughts, such differences as are merely accidental, 
and seize that point of coincidence which is most inte- 
resting and important ; namely, the triumph of mentaJ 
energy over the most clinging weaknesses of our 
nature ; the negro will not appear wholly unworthy of 
a comparison with the sage of Athens. The latter 
occupied an exalted station in the publick eye ; 
though persecuted even unto death and ignominy, by 
a band of triumphant despots, he was surrounded in 
his last moments by his faithful friends and disciples, 
to whose talents and affection he might safely trust 

* The cliiirch builders of Charleston are too happy in a mo- 
■opoly of salvation to afford a salaried cleriiyman to the jail, and 
the salaried clergymen of the city cannot aflbrd to contaminate 
their piety, by entering, unpaid, the abode of crime and mis- 
fortune. 



264 APPENDIX. 

the vindication of his fame, and the unsullied white 
ness of his naernory : he knew that his hour of glory 
raust come, and that it would not pass away. The 
negro had none of these aids ; he was a man friend- 
less and despised ; the sympathies of society were 
locked up against him ; he was to atone for an odious 
crime, by an ignominious death ; the consciousness 
of his innocence was confined to his own bosom, there 
probably to sleep for ever : to the rest of mankind he 
was a wretched criminal ; an object perhaps of con- 
tempt and detestation, even to the guilty companions 
of his prison-house ; he had no philosophy with which 
to reason down those natural misgivings, which may 
be supposed to precede the violent dissolution of life 
and body : he could make no appeal to posterity to 
reverse an unjust judgment. — To have borne all this 
patiently, would have been much : he bore it hero- 
ically. 

Having ended his discourse, he was conducted to the 
scaffold, where having calmly surveyed the crowds 
collected to witness his fate, he requested leave to 
address them. Having obtained permission, he stept 
firmly to the edge of the scaffold, and having com- 
manded silence by his gestures, " you are come," 
said he, " to be spectators of my sufferings ; you are 
mistaken, there is not a person in this crowd but suf- 
fers more than I do. I am cheerful and contented, 
for I am innocent." He then observed, that he truly 
forgave all those who had taken any part in his con- 
demnation, and believed that they had acted consci- 
entiously from the evidence before them ; and dis- 
claimed all idea of imputing guilt to any one. He 
then turned to his counsel, who with feelings, which 
honoured humanity, had attended him to the scaffold ; 
"to you, Sir," said he, "I am indeed most graieful, 
had you been my son, you could not have acted by 
me more kindly ;" and observing his tears, he continu- 
ed ; " this. Sir, distresses me beyond any thing I have 
felt yet. I entreat you will feel no distress on ray 



APPENDIX. 265 

account, I am happy ;" then praying Heaven to re- 
ward his benevolence, he took leave of him, and sig- 
nified his readiness to die ; but requested he might 
be excused from having his eyes and hands bandag- 
ed ; wishing, with an excusable pride, to give this 
final proof of his unshaken firmness ; he, however, 
submitted on this point, to the representations of the 
sheriff, and died^ without the quivering of a muscle. 
The spectators, who had been drawn together, part- 
ly by idle curiosity, and partly by a detestation of his 
supposed crime, retired with tears for his fate, and 
execrations on his murderers. 



No. II. 

OF THE AMERICAN CHARACTER. 

I ventured at an early period of my travels to delineate 
some features of the American character. AVhatever I 
have seen since has tended to coafirm the impression then 
made, and this agreement of early impressions with sub- 
sequent experience may be admitted to prove, that the 
national character is strongly pronounced and therefore 
readily appreciated. 

Notwithstanding the important differences of climate, 
habits of lifg and religion, there exists throughout the 
Union a feature of similitude countervailing all these. 
This feature is government. Political institutions have 
in other countries a feeble and secondary influence : the 
duties of a subject are, for the most part, passive ; those 
of the American citizen are active, and perpetually act- 
ing ; and as they operate equally on every member of 
society, their general control over the whole community 
must, in most instances, exceed that of any partial habit 
or opinion. 

The common qualities which may be said to be gene- 
rated by this influence, are intelligence, or a quick per- 
.34 



266 APPENDIX. 

ception of utility, both general and individual; hence 
their attachment to freedom, and to every species of im- 
provement both publick and private: energy, and perse- 
verance in carrying their plans into effect; qualities in 
fact deducible from the former; we are steady in pursuing, 
•when thoroughly convinced of the value of the object: 
gravity of manner and deportment, because they are ha- 
bitually occupied upon matters of deep interest : tacitur- 
nity, which is the offspring of thought. They appear 
deficient in imagination or the poetry of life, because all 
its realities are at their disposal. They seem to have 
little sympathy, because their social system does not com- 
pel them to suffer. Oppression engenders pity ; disease 
and death require only resignation. 

But beside these general features, which may be con- 
sidered as common to the whole mass of American citi- 
zens, each grand division of the Union has its own pecu- 
liar characteristicks. By grand divisions, I mean, 1. 
The New England States; 2. The Central; 3. The 
Southern ; and 4. The States to the west of the Allegha- 
nies. 

THE NEW ENGLAND STATES. 

The author of " Letters from Virginia," thus pourtrays 
the New Englanders, or Yankees. 

" My young friend Manly came in to see me last eve- 
ning. ' You are a traveller,' said he, ' and make it a 
point to see every thing. Pray have you seen a Yankee 
yet about our wharves T 'A Yankee,^ said I, 'what sort 
of an animal is that?' ' A very strange animal, I assure 
you,' said he, with a smile. 'It has the body of a man, 
but not the soul. However, I mean one of our New 
England friends, who visit us in small crafts, to get our 
money. These are certainly a very strange race of peo- 
ple. You will see them with their eel-skins upon their 
hair, to save the expense of barbers, and their ear-rings 
in their ears, to improve their sight, to see how to cheat 
you better, I suppose. They would die sooner than part 
with one of these ornaments, unless you pay 'em well 
for it. At the same time they live upon nothing. A 



APPENDIX. 26? 

rasher of pork is a feast for them, even on holidays. 
Their favourite drink is nothing but switchel, or molasses 
and water, which they will tell you is better than burgun- 
dy or champaign. They are however better taught than 
fed, and make the finest bold sailors in the world. They can 
sail to the North Pole and back again in an egg-shell, if the 
ice does not break it. Indeed, they are seamen by birth, and 
box the compass in their cradles.. You know our genteel 
laziness unfits us for the drudgery of commerce. So we 
leave it all to the Yankees. These crafting part of them 
come here at all seasons in their sloops and. schooners, 
bringing a miscellaneous cargo, of all sorts of 7ioticns, not 
metaphysical but material, such as cheese, butter, pota- 
toes, cranberries, onions, beets, coffins — you smile, but it 
is a fact, that understanding some years ago, that the yel- 
low fever was raging here with great violence, some of 
them very charitably risked their own lives, to bring us 
a large quantity of ready-made cofiBns of all sizes, in nests, 
one within another, to supply customers at a moment's 
warning; an insult which we have hardly forgiven them 
yet. You will see them sailing up into all our bays, rivers, 
and creeks, wherever the water runs. As the winter 
comes on, they creep into some little harbour, where they 
anchor their vessels, and open store on board, retailing 
out their articles of every kind, to the poor countrymen, 
who come to buy. Towards the spring, they sail away 
with a load of plank or shingles, which they often get 
very clieap^ Indeed the whole race of Yankee seamen 
are certainly the most enterprising people in the world. 
They are in all quarters of the globe where a penny is 
to be made. In short, they love money a little better 
than their own lives. What is worst, they are not always 
very nice about the means of making it; but are ready 
to break laws like cobwebs, whenever it suits their inter- 
est. You know we passed an embargo law sometime ago, 
to starve the English out of house and home, and made 
all our coasting captains give bond, and take oath, that 
they would not sail to any foreign port or place what- 
ever. Suddenly there began to blow a set of the most 
violent gales that had ever been known, and what was 
rather singular, they all insisted upon blowing towards the 
West Indies, in the very teeth of the law, as if on purpose 
to save the penalty of the bonds. It looked indeed, to 



268 APPENDIX. 

good people, as if Providence had determined to take 
those islands under his care, and send them supplies to 
save them from famine, in spite of the American Congress. 
Our rulers, however, who had learnt from history that 
these Yankees used formerly to deal with witches, began 
to suspect that all these storms were raised by the black 
art, or at least were manufactured in a notary's office, ex- 
pressly for the occasion, and therefore resolved to lay 
them at once. So they passed a law which declared in 
substance that no kind of accident or distress should be 
given in evidence, to save the penalties of the bonds. 
This act poured sweet oil upon the ocean at once, and 
produced a profound calm, in spite of witches and nota- 
ries, and the winds soon went on to blow from all points 
of the compass as formerly, any thing in the act entitled, 
an Act laying an embargo, &c. to the contrary notwith- 
standing.'" Letter VI, 

This is confessedly a caricature, but its distorted linea- 
ments may help us to some of the true features of the 
New Englanders. They are the Scotchmen of the Unit- 
ed States. Inhabiting a country of limited extent, and 
incapable of maintaining its own population, their indus- 
try naturally and succesfully directed itself to commercial 
pursuits ; but as even these became gradually insufficient 
to maintain their growing numbers, thej^ began at an early 
period of their history to seek for settlements among their 
neighbours to the south and west. As it is probable that 
those who first began to have recourse to that expedient, 
were such as preferred the exertion of their wits, to an 
encrease of manual toil, reckless adventurers who were 
well-spared at home, they were far from being acceptable 
guests. The plodding Dutch and Germans of New York 
and Pennsylvania, held them in particular abhorrence, 
and, as far as they could, hunted them from their neigh- 
bourhood, whenever they attempted to gain a footing in 
it. " It is (says the author of the " Olive Branch,"*) 
within the memory of those over Avhose chins no razor 
has ever mowed a harvest, that Yankee and sharper were 

* A political publication, by Matthew Carey, of Philadel- 
phia, supposed to have had a greater run than any work of the 
sort, since Paine's Common Sense ; seven editions having been 
called for in thirteen months. 



APPENDIX. 



269 



regarded as nearly synonymous, and this was not among 
the low, and the illiberal, the base, aod the vulgar. It 
pervaded all ranks of society. In the Middle and South- 
ern states, traders were universally very much on their 
guard against Yankee tricks, wlien dealing with those of 
the Eastern." Page 274. 

It is therefore in this class of adventurers and emigrants 
•we are to look for the least favourable traits of the New 
England character : patient, industrious, frugal, enterpris- 
ing, and intelligent, it cannot be denied but that they are 
frequently knavish, mean, and avaricious ; as men who 
make gain the master spring of their actions. 

Here we perceive the force and meaning of the Virgi- 
nian satire, but here too its application must be restrict- 
ed : even emigration seems to be so far moulded into a 
system, that it is no longer, the resort merely of rogues 
and vagabonds, but is embraced as an eligible mode of 
bettering their condition by the young and enterprising of 
all classes ; it is a wholesome drain to the exuberance of 
population, and preserves at home that comparative equa- 
lity, on which publick happiness and morals so entirely 
depend. The New Englanders should be seen at home 
to be correctly judged of: as far as testimony goes, it is 
universally in their favour. " I feel a pride and pleasure 
(says Mr. Carey) in doing justice to the yeomanry of the 
Eastern States : they will not suffer in a comparison with 
the same class of men in any part of the world. They are 
upright, sober, orderly, and regular ; shrewd, intelligent, 
and well-informed ; and I believe there is not a greater de- 
gree of genuine native urbanitj' among the yeomanry of 
any country under the canopy of heaven." " Olive 
Branch." Page 275. This is the character my own ex- 
perience recognized in the inhabitants of the beautiful 
Genesee country, which has been entirely cleared and 
settled by New Englanders. 

It is impossible to quit the Eastern Stales without 
speaking of their religion, which is scarcely more their 
glory in their own eyes, than their opprobrium in those of 
their neighbours. 

Pretensions to superiour sanctity are always received 
with jealousy, especially by a people, among whom devo- 
tion is in repute. The contrast too, betwixt the pious 
seeming, and substantial knavery of many of the New En- 



270 APPENDIX. 

gland adventurers, naturally brings these pretensions into 
still greater discredit, and extorts a wish, that they had 
either a little more morality, or a little less religion. 
There is, however, no reason to doubt that in the bulk of 
the inhabitants, religion is not merely a shew and pretext, 
but a belief and practice : men tire of mutual hypocrisy, 
when it has grown too common to impose. 

Calvinism, rigid, uncompromising Calvinism, is the in- 
heritance the New Englauders have received from their 
forefathers ; it was the sacred fire their ancestors bore with 
them into exile, and which has continued to burn in the 
hearts, and on the altars of their descendants ; sometimes 
indeed like " the furnace blue," to which Moloch treated 
his worshippers, but of late years with a less fatal, though 
still angry, light, round which the trumpets and timbrels 
of the priests still sound " in dreadful harmony." 

Besides the indulgence of spiritual pride, (for spiritual 
pride is a luxury of the highest rate to those who are too fru- 
gal, or too conscientious to tolerate grosser enjoyments,) the 
early colonists perceived the Calvinistick system of church 
discipline to be best suited to the poverty and simplicity 
of their condition. Calvinism has therefore grown up 
with republicanism, and from an accidental connexion, 
claims to be of the same kindred : but the vital spirit of 
Calvinism is intolerance, and intolerance is in no shape a 
republican principle. It is true, this spirit is, to a certain 
extent, mitigated by the partial influence, of good sense, 
and by the temper of the age, but it is still the same in 
essence, and waits but a favourable opportunity to prove 
itself the same in action. I do not, however, ascribe in- 
tolerance to Calvinism as a peculiarity; it is a quality 
common to religious sects of every denomination, when- 
ever faith girds on the sword of temporal power. The 
tlisposition of any sect to persecute others seem in exact 
proportion to ils strength and credulity ; increasing as 
these increase and unite, and growing mild as they fade 
and separate. Thus all religions have in their turns been 
persecuting and tolerant, bloody and inofiensive. The 
Roman CathoHck religion, harmless in Canada, and in 
the United States, opprest in Ireland, bed-ridden in 
France, still exhibits the vitality of its poison in Spain 
and Portugal. The Anglican church, persecuting even 
in its cradle, persecuting at its first establishment in Vir- 



APPENDIX. 2ri 

ginia, and still armed with exclusive privileges and penal 
statutes, has grown gradually tolerant from a decay of faith 
and a division of power. If Calvinism still retains in 
America the harsher features of its founder and early dis- 
ciples, it is because the New Englanders have as yet 
found little leisure to unsettle their belief; while be- 
lievers, by elevating their mortal passions and human 
weaknesses to the throne of God, have made a cherished 
idol of their own pride, and authorize intolerance by Di- 
vine example. 

It is to be regretted, that this fanatical spirit is not con- 
fined to the Eastern States : either, for, that it is in itself 
naturally contagious, or that it has been carried abroad 
by emigration, it is now spreading rapidly through all 
parts of the Union ; sometimes, indeed, in a manner, which 
may well provoke a smile ;* but more frequently with a 

* I once picked up a work entitled " The Christian's Jour- 
nal," written by a minister of Haddington, the aim of which 
was to extract some religious feeling from every object which 
might meet a Christian eye, as for instance, " Now the butcher 
shaves the neck of yonder sow, that he may give her the kil- 
ling stab, so Satan tickles and flatters my soul that he may mur- 
der her. — Yonder feed a flock of geese ; a covey of ducks ; let 
me never resemble the first in being beady and high-minded ; 
nor the last in speaking much, and doing little, in walking slow, 
&c. — Yonder are two kilns, one for drying corn or malt, another 
for burning bricks ; think, my soul, how Jehovah's son was dri- 
ed, roasted, and burnt amidst his Father's indignation." — The 
following must, I imagine, be spoken in a female character ; 
♦'How filthy is this stable; but stop my soul, with wonder 
stop ! Was Jehovah born in a stable for me ? Did he lie in a 
manger, that he might lie for ever betwixt my breasts, and I 
for ever in the embraces of bis love?" — "There stands the 
ranked cabbage ; chiefly valuable for its large solid heart ; as 
my heart is before God, so much am I, no more. — Here come 
persons in coaches, and others on horses ; for thou, my soul, ride 
in th^ chariot of the wood of Lebanon, and on the white horse 
of the Gospel. — Yonder is a crowd of people, who attend the 
neighbouring spa to drink or bathe in it. Blessed Jesus, mine- 
ral well, great spa, let us daily bathe in thy blood. — Here they 
make glass : its original is stones, sand, kelp, and such briny 
materials; by what grinding, melting, and polishing they trans- 
form it into the transparent substance ! Think, my soul, on the 
tremendous grinding and melting of the Son of God, in the like- 
ncsi of sinful flesh, to prepare the glazen sea of his righteous- 



272 APPENDIX. 

rigidity of aspect, before which the graces and pleasures 
of life wither. The Americans are habitually serious and 
silent, even beyond English taciturnity.* Their spirits are 
seldom elevated, except by the application of some extra- 
ordinary stimulant, either in the shape of politicks or li- 
quor ; they are thus excellently fitted to become vessels of 
election and regeneration : the sour leaven ferments 
through their frames, until all the kindlier juices curdle, 
and happiness becomes a deadly sin. 

In many parts of the country dancing is held to be an 
abomination, Avhich even the young of both sexes have 
been induced by the penalty of eternal damnation to re- 
nounce : perhaps this is on great sacrifice, for I have 
sometimes fancied, that though the Americans are great 
dancers by habit, dancing is with them an acquired taste, 
which will not long stand its ground against pleasures 
more congenial to their natural disposition ; still it is a 
matter of regret, in as much as the severity of theit cha- 
racter evidently requires rather to be tempered by social 
enjoyments than stiffened by gloomy creeds, and the cant 
of fanaticism. 

Having testified in favour of the morality of the New 
Englanders, it is natural to inquire how far it may be 
supposed to originate in, or be strengthened by their re- 
ligious tenets. This, however, is a question of not very 
easy solution. When a people is well educated and in- 

ness and a bottle for God to put ray tears in." This is certainly 
ingenious ; " Here is plenty of cloth well dyed, and I hope well 
made ; here is fine linen, strong and thoroughly whitened : sad 
memorials of our sin ; had not Adam made us naked to our sin, 
we should have no need of this to cover us." 

The following is an epitome of the precious doctrine of elec- 
tion and sauctification by grace; " Here iieth one who reckons 
himself the chief of sinners, and yet boidly claims Jesus for his 
own ; and firmly expects salvation by virtue of the covenant of 
grace made with Hirn? may my life, and my last end, be like 
his." 

* I have been frequently amused during my journey, with 
observing twelve or fourteen persons meeting to take their 
meals, as they do at the country taverns, and separating with- 
out uttering as many words as there were dishes on the table .: 
yet they were not in general strangers, but lellow-townsmen. 
boarding at the house. 



APPENDIX. 273 

dustrious, when property is so far Gqyally divided, that 
the extremes of wealth and poverty are scarcely knowu, 
their morals will necessarily be pure. The two main 
sources of vice are want and ignorance : let a man know 
well his own interest, and remove from him the blandish- 
ments of luxury on the one hand, and' the horrours of 
poverty on the other, aad he will have little temptatioa 
to work his own ruin by idleness, profligacy, or despair. 
Such is the condition of the New England States, and 
under such circumstances, it is probable they would 
continue in the paths of morality, because they are in 
fact in the straight road, v/hatever might be the form of 
their religious worship. Calvinism however, takes cre- 
dit, as might be expected, for their good conduct, and 
claims the merit of having given birth to virtues, which 
probably it has only not been able to destroy. Time 
will bring about a decay of faith, and lime will also in- 
troduce luxury and want. Religion and morality will 
then decay together, and collateral events will be mis- 
taken for cause and effect. 

If the influence of religion can in any way be fairly 
appreciated, it must be by observing the character and 
conduct of the priesthood, in whom, as a body, its es- 
sence must be peculiarly concentrated. 

At the period of the French revolution, and for some 
years after, the New England clergy, were, to use the 
Avords of Fisher Ames, " powerful auxiliaries of lawful 
authority." "Watch those ungrateful souls," preaches 
Dr. Parish in 1798, "who murmur about 'taxation, and 
oppression, the burdens of government and religion. 
They have fellowship with our enemies ; they are trai- 
tors to God and Christianity." " As citizens" (preaches 
the Rev. Jedidiah Morse, at the same period) " we ought 
with one heart to cleave to, and support our own go- 
vernment ; we ought to repel v^^ith indignation every 
suggestion, and slanderous insinuation, calculated to 
weaken a just confidence in the rectitude of the inten- 
tions of our constituted authorities. Our goves-nment, is 
itself the most perfect, the best administered, the least 
burdensorne, and most happyfying to the peojile, of any 
on earth." 

A convention of congregational ministers presented an 
address to President Adams, in 1793, in which we read; 



274 APPENDIX. 

" The intimate cosnexioa between our civil and Chris- 
tian blessings, is alone sufficient to justify the decided 
part which the clergy of America have uniformly taken 
in supporting the constituted authorities, and political in- 
terests of their country." 

Thus far all is consistent, and as it should be ; " Now 
mark what follows." During the late war, we find these 
same individuals, whom the Federalists had represented, 
and who had represented themselves to be the stead- 
fast supporters of authority and order, not only joining 
heart and voice to the party in opposition to the govern- 
ment, but actually beating " the drum Ecclesiastick," to 
excite open rebellion. " If you do not wish to become 
the slaves of those who own slaves, and who are them- 
selves the slaves of French slaves, you must, in the lan- 
guage of the day, cut the connexion," &c. Sermon by 
the Rev. F. Gardiner, Boston, preached July 23, 1812. 

According to the Rev. Dr. Osgood, whoever assisted 
the government, in any way, to carry on the war, was, 
" In the sight of God, and his law, a murderer." Ser- 
mon, June 27, 1812. 

" Were not the authors of this war in character nearly 
akin to the deists and atheists of France ; were they not 
men of hardened hearts, seared consciences, reprobate 
minds, and desperate wickedness, it seems utterly in- 
conceivable that they should have made the declaration." 
Idem. 

" If at the present moment no symptoms of civil war 
appear, they certainly will sobn; unless the courage of 
the war-party should fail them." Idem. 

The Reverend Elijah Parish thus exhorts his con- 
gregation. " New England, if invaded, would be obliged 
to defend herself; do you not then owe it to your child- 
ren, owe it to your God, to make peace for yourselves ?" 
Sermon, April 7th, 1814. 

" The full vials of despotism are poured on your heads, 
and yet you may challenge the plodding Israelite, the 
stupid African, the feeble Chinese, the drowsy Turk, or 
the frozen exile of Siberia, to equal you in tame sub- 
mission to the powers that be." Idem. 

" How will the supporters of this antichristian war- 
fare endure their sentence; endure the fire that for ever 
burns; the worm which never dies; the hosannas of 



APPENDIX. 275 

Heaven, while the smoke of their torment ascends for 
ever and ever." Idem. 

How is this strange contrariety of sentiments to be 
accounted for ? By a love of peace, and a devout hatred 
to war in the abstract ? Alas ! their own sermons scarce- 
ly militate more against this supposition, than did the 
bloody cuirass of the bishop of Beauvais. " Cursed be 
he" (preached Dr. Parish, in 1 799) " that keepeth back 
his sword from blood. Let him that hath none, sell his 
coat and buy one. The contest is desirable." Shall it 
be said they yielded in the latter instance to the love 
of freedom and of their country ? That they supported 
the constitution against tyranny ? But of what tyranny 
could they complain ? The war might be impolitick, it 
might be hostile to the interests of New England; and 
if such was the case, they had, as citizens, an undoubt- 
ed right to use all constitutional methods of abridging 
its duration, and exposing its folly ; but it had been 
constitutionally declared, and approved by a congress 
freely elected; and though the New England States 
might stand in the shoes of a minority, this is scarcely 
sufficient reason for the ministers of religion to preach 
sedition and rebellion. We are compelled therefore to 
search for the true motives of their conduct, among those 
passions which do least honour to human nature. With- 
in the period of this change in their sentiments, the reins 
of government had passed from the hands of the Fe- 
deralists into those of the Democrats, in whom they 
beheld the enemies of religion, because they were 
friends of toleration. Upon similar grounds, they hated 
France, whether republican or imperial, and adhered to 
England, because she shared and gratified their hatred. 
They loved neither England nor federalism, but their 
own power; which they believed to be connected with 
the cause of legitimacy and intolerance all over the 
world.* Power is universally the idol of the human 

* The Reverend J. Morse observes, in his account of Con- 
necticut. " The clergy, who are numerous and as a body very 
respectable, have hitherto preserved a kind of aristocratical 
balance, in the very democratical government of the state, 
which has happily operated as a check upon the overbearing 
spirit of republicanism." He adds, " Their intlucnce is on the 
increase." And to this he attributes the reformation of man- 
ners. 



276 APPENDIX. 

heart ; and whenever superstition builds temples, the idol 
obtains a favoured niche in the sanctuary. As long 
however as the temporal sword is withheld, and the hie- 
rarchy unendowed with the plunder of credulity, there 
will be found in a free country, a continual elasticity, re- 
coiling against, and throwing off spiritual oppression. It 
is for this reason Unilarianism is making nearly the 
same progress among the few who think for themselves, 
even in New England, that fanaticism is among the 
many who take their creed upon trust. " It would as- 
tonish, and frighten many of the pious people in New 
York and Philadelphia" (I quote from the Olive Branch, 
page 275) " to be informed ; but they may nevertheless 
rely upon the information as indubitably true, that a 
large portion of the clergy in the town of Boston are 
absolute Unitarians, antl scout the idea of the divinity 
of Jesus Christ, as completely and explicitly as ever 
Dr. Priestley did ; and let me add, that the present 
Principal of Harvard College, was known to be an Uni- 
tarian when he was elected. This fact establishes the 
very great extent and prevalence of the doctrine." 



THE CENTRAL STATES. 

There is no portion of the Union which contains more 
enlightened individuals, more useful institutions, or a 
stronger spirit of literary and scientifick improvement, 
than the cities of New York, and Philadelphia ; but there 
are several reasons which prevent the citizens of the 
Central States from acquiring a general character, as 
strongly marked as is that of the Eastern. They are 
composed of several heterogeneous bodies. The ancient 
Dutch race still exists, with many of its primitive habits, 
towards the centre of the state of New York ; towards 
the north and west, its population consists chiefly of New 
Englanders. A large portion of Pennsylvania is inhabited 
by Germans, who are still unacquainted with the English 
language, and are consequently rather a social circle ex- 
isting within the State, than a portion of the community 
amalgamating with it. The Quakers too, are a body 
whose distinctive habits necessarily operate against the 



APPENDIX. 



277 



formation of a general character, because they are strong- 
er than any general causes by which such a character is 
engendered. These circumstancas are hardly, however, 
felt as disadvantages; in some respects, they are proba- 
bly the contrary. 

As citizens, the Dutch and Germans are peaceable and 
industrious, though not very enlightened ; the New En- 
glanders introduce the best quaiiiies of their characters : 
the Quakers are intelligent and humane. Adventurers 
from all countries constitute the most unsound part of the 
population, and are likely to give a stranger an usifavoura- 
ble opinion of the whole ; in other respects, the Central 
States seem those in which foreigners will find the tone 
of manners, and spirit of society most acccmraodating and 
easy. 



THE SOUTHERN STATES. 

It is impossible to consider the character of the south- 
ern states, without again adverting to the pernicious ef- 
fects of slavery. 

Land cultivated by slaves requires a considerable capi- 
tal, and will therefore be divided among a small number 
of proprietors. Experience too, shews, that the quantity 
of labour performed by slaves, is much below that of an 
equal number of free cultivators; the number of persons 
deriving support from the soil will consequently be less : 
but the loss is not in quantity only, the qualify is pro- 
portionably deteriorated. He who commands the sweat 
of others, will be little inclined to toil himself ;* the in- 
clination will diminish with the necessity. The fact is 
so consonant with this remark, that in the southern states, 
the fisheries, and all branches of active exertion, fail into 
the hands of the New Englanders : so much so, that the 
city of Charleston is supplied with fish by smacks from 
Marblehead and Boston. Climate might be supposed to 
have a partial influence in producing this effect, were not 
such individuals as are compelled by the nature of their 
occupations to rely much on their own eiforts, found no- 

* " Of the proprietors of slaves, a very small proportion in- 
deed are ever seen to labour." Jefferson's iVotes, p. 241. 



278 APPENDIX. 

wise inferiour in attainments ami application to the same 
description of persons in the more temperate portions of 
the Union. Nay, have not almost all the sultriest re- 
gions of the globe been alternately the seats of sloth and 
enterprize ? 

The same distribution of property which renders la- 
bour unnecessary to its proprietor, is no less fatal to his 
mental improvement. Experience informs us, that means 
and leisure are less powerful excitements to study than 
the spur of necessity, and hope of profit. Information 
will be first sought, that it may be useful, it will after- 
wards be perused for the pleasure of the acquisition only. 
The planter has therefore been ever reckoned among the 
least enlightened members of society; but says a pro- 
verb, Those whom the devil finds idle, he sets about his 
own work. Dissipation must be always the resource of 
the unoccupied and ill-instructed. 

If the political effects of slavery are pernicious to the 
citizen, its moral effects are still more fatal to the man. 
" There must doubtless," (says Mr. Jefferson,) " be an 
unhappy influence on the manners of the people, pro- 
duced by the existence of slavery among us. The whole 
commerce between master and slave, is a perpetual ex- 
ercise of the most boisterous passions ; the most unremit- 
ting despotism on the one part, and degrading submis- 
sions on the other. Our children see this, and learn to 
imitate it, for man is an imitative animal. The parent 
storms, the child looks on, catches the lineaments of 
wrath,- puts on the same airs in the circle of smaller 
slaves, give loose to the worst of passions, and thus 
nursed, educated, and daily exercised in tyranny, can- 
not but be stamped by it with odious peculiarities. The 
man must be a prodigy who can retain his morals and 
manners undepraved by such circumstances." Notes 
p. 241. 

We know the time of prodigies is past, and that na- 
tural effects will follow their causes. The manners of 
the lower classes in the Southern states are brutal and 
depraved.* Those of the upper, corrupted by power, are 

* The stage drivers, for instance, are more inhuman, and 
much inferiour in decency of behaviour to the negroes, who 
are sometimes employed in the same capacity : so that it 



APPENDIX 279 

frequently arrogant and assuming : unused to restraint or 
contradiction of any kind, they are necessarily quarrel- 
some ; and in their quarrels, the native ferocity of their 
hearts breaks out. Duelling is not only in general vogue 
and fashion, but is practised with circumstances of pe- 
culiar vindictiveness. It is usual vyhen two persons 
have agreed to fight, for each to go out regularly and 
practise at a mark, in the presence of their friends, during 
the interval which precedes their meeting ; one of the 
parties therefore commonly falls. 

Did the whole of the above causes operate with undi- 
minished influence, the result would be horrible ; but there 
are several circumstances continually working in mitiga- 
tion of those evils. 

The American form of government, as powerfully im- 
pels to energy, as slave proprietorship does to indolence. 
The example of neighbouring states continually urges on 
improvements. The learned and mercantile professions 
have little direct interest in the slave system, and are 
therefore less infected by its contagion. I have already 
noted a distinction betwixt the farmers of the upper 
country, and the planters of the lower. There is thus a 
considerable portion of comparatively untainted popula- 
tion. Even among the planters, there are individuals, 
who, by a judicious use of the advantages of leisure and 
fortune, by travel, and extensive intercourse with the 
world, have acquired manners more polished, and senti- 
ments more refined, than are the common lot of their fel- 
low-citizens in other portions of the Union : but these 
are rare exceptions, stars in darkness, which shine, more 
sensibly to mark the deep shadows of the opposite ex- 
treme, where the contrast is strong, perpetual, and dis- 
gusting. 

THE WESTEI^N STATES. 

f 

The inhabitants of Kentucky are, or at least were (for 
in America the wheel of society turns so swiftly, that 

seems not improbable that the effects of slavery, upon the 
lower orders at least, are more debasing to tbe governing class, 
than to the f^oTerned. 



280 APPENDIX. 

20 years work the changes of a century) considered as 
the Irishmen of the United States : that is to say, a simi- 
lar state of society had produced, in a certain degree, 
similar manners. 

The Kentuckians inhabited a fertile country, with few 
large towns or manufactories ; they had therefore both 
leisure and abundance, as far as the necessaries of life 
went: they were consequently disposed to conviviality 
and social intercourse; and as the arts were little under- 
stood, and the refinements of literature and science un- 
known, their board was seldom spread by the graces, or 
their festivity restricted within the boundaries of temper- 
ance. They were in fact hospitable and open-hearted, 
but boisterous, and addicted to those vulgar, and even 
brutal amusements, which were once common in Vir- 
ginia, and have been common in all countries, as Song as 
man knew no pleasure more refined, than the alternate 
excitements and dissipation of his animal spirits, by feats 
of [ihysical strength and coarse debauchery. 

To a certain extent therefore, there were points of 
similitude betwixt the Kentucky farmers and the Irish 
gentrj', but there was always this point of distinction ; in 
Kentucky, leisure and abundance belonged to every man 
who would work for them ; in Ireland, they appertained 
only to the few for whom the many worked. 

Kentucky has of late years become a manufacturing 
state : towns have grown up rapidly, and the luxuries of 
social intercourse are scarcely less understood in Lexing- 
ton than in New York : manners must therefore have un- 
dergone a considerable change, and those peculiarities 
of character, v^hich were once supposed to mark Ken- 
tuckians, must probably now be sought among the more 
recent inhabitants of Tennessee or Indiana. It may safe- 
ly be affirmed, that between the Alleghanies and the Mis- 
souri, every degree of civiiizalion is to be met with 
which shades the character of social man, from a state 
of considerable luxury and refinement, u-Uil on the very 
verge of the pale, he almost ceases to be gregarious, 
and attaches himself to a life of savage independence. 
There are settlers, if they may be so called, wha are 
continually pushing forward, abandoning their recent im- 
provpments as fast as neighbour'iood overtakes them, and 
plunging deeper into primeval wildernesses. Mr. Boon, 



APPENDIX. 281 

is a person of this description ; he explored Kentucky in 
1760; since this period, he has constantly formed the 
advanced patrole of civilization, until he is now, 1 be- 
lieve, on the Missouri. It is a maKini with him, that a 
country is too thickly peopled, as soon as he cannot fall 
a tree from the forest into his own inclosure. 

It seems a very simple process to go and settle in a fer- 
tile country, wliere land may l)e procured for two dollars 
the acre ; a glance, however, over an uncleared, and hea- 
vily-timbered tract, is sufficient, not only to correct our 
notions of the facility of the enterprize, but to render it 
aatonisliinfr;. that men are found sutficiently venturesome 
and enduring to undertake the task. The stoutest la- 
bourer might well shrink at the prospect, but hope and 
freedom brace both soul and sinews. The manner ia 
which the young adventurer sets out upon his oilgrimage, 
has been already descrined in livelier colours than mine. 
There is something almost poetical in the confidence and 
hardihood of such undertakings, and I h:ive heard a kind of 
bailad-song, which turns upon them, with some such 
burthen as this : 

" 'Tis you can reap and mow, love, 
And I can spin, and s'^w, 
And we'll settle on the banks of 
The pleasant Ohio." 

How these adventurers have thriven is well known; Ken- 
tucky, first settled in 1773, in 17Q2 had a population esti- 
mated at 100,000, and by the census of 1810, at 406,511. 
Morse reckons the whole po()ula'ioi) of the Western terri- 
tory in 1790, at 6000. According to the census of 1810, 
Ohio alone contained 227,843. Tennessee 261,227 ; and 
the other territories about 1 18 000 ; making an increase of 
100 fold in 20 years. This rate is prodigious, even when 
comi»ared with the most thriving of the Atlantick States. 
The population of New York, w 'S in 

1756 - - 97.000 

1786 - - 239.000 

1805 - - 586,000 

1810 - - 960,000 
Averaging an increase of about twenty-four fold in forty 
years. In moat of the New England States, the increase 

36 



282 APPKNDIX. 

is extremely small : so that they seem to have nearly at- 
tained ihe amount of po|»ulation their soil will support 
with ease ami comfort. Coi;uecticut contained in 

1755 - - 130,611 inhabitants 

1774 - - 198,000 

1782 - - 203.000 

1805 - - 232,000 

1810 - - 202,000 

It may be sujtposed that with such an extraordinary 
growth, the demand fur labour through the Western 
States is very great : even in Upper Canada the want of 
mechaaicKs and arliticers is severely felt. The cause is 
easily assigned. Whenever great facilities exist for be- 
coming a land-owner, n>eu will unwiilir.gly submit to the 
drudgery of meni.d ur niecn mical occupniions, or at least 
submit to them so long oidy, as will afford them the 
means of taking up what they will consider a preferable 
mutle of life. Wages are therefo.'-e very high through the 
whole of the continent; in the new States from the natu- 
ral scarcity of labour, in the oUl, from the competition of 
the new. I saw the following terms offered to journey- 
men tailors in a Knoxville newspaper: three dollars for 
ra.iking a coat; one for each job; their lioard and lodging 
found them, and certain employment for one year. Knox- 
ville is the capital of East Tennessee. 

The views and feelings of the Western States are natu- 
rally influenced by Iheir local position. All their streams, 
the Ohio, the Wabash, the Miami, the Kanhawa, and the 
Mononsri^hela, discharge themselves tinally into the Mis- 
8Hsivi»i; the Missouri comiuij; from the opposite direction, 
6nil3 the same vent. The inhabitants look therefore to 
the gulph of Mexico, as the natural outlet of their com- 
merce ; to them the Attantick States are the back coun- 
try. What chanses this feeling may eventually work in 
the Union, it is now useless to inquire, but it seems evi- 
dent, that at no distant date, the Western States will 
have far outgrown their neighbours in power and popula- 
tion. 

Already, the anticipating glance of ambition surveys an 
ample field; the whole continent is parcelled out. Be- 
sides Indiana, the Mississippi, the Illinois, the Michigan, 
and the North-west territories, equal in extent to four 
Englands, the Missouri territory is thus described in the 



APPENDIX. 283 

American " Traveller's Directory :" "Boundaries — On 
the north, unsettled country ; south, Louisiana, and Gulf 
of iMexico ; east, Ut'per CanafUi, North- \v< st territory. Illi- 
nois territory, Kentucky, Teniu^ssee, iVlis8i9S!j»j)i lerriiory, 
and Louisiana : west, the Pacifick Ocean, and southwest 
the Spanish internal provinces. Extent from north to 
south, about 1380 miles; from cast to west, about 1680 
miles. Area, about 1,5'60,000 square miles." The p(ij)U- 
lation is as yet something inadequate, tteing only 21,000. 
It is curious to ol'serve, for how much, or rather lor how 
little, the rights of the real proprietors of the soil, the In- 
dians, count ir> these convenient «listril(Utions. Thej'^ are 
in fact considered as a race of wild animals, not less inju- 
rious to settlement and cultivation than wolves and 
bears ; hut too strong, or too cunning to be exterminated 
exactly in the same way. Their final extinction, how- 
ever, is not loss certain. Then will the Queen of the 
Pacifick ascend the throne of undisputed empire, " ct vie- 
trix dominabititr Orbi." 



No. III. 

OF THE AMERICAN GOVERNMENT. 

" Ttie United States, despairing of producing good manners, or a regard 
for private duties, by infusing into government the strongest solicitations to 
dijTP^^trd pub'.ick duties ; endeavour to secure tiie morality of aovernninnt, 
as tbe best security against the licentiousness of the people. 1 liey forbear 
to excite ambition and avarice by hereditary orders, or separate interests; 
and provide agniust both, by election, responsibility, and division of power. 
They excludi the vicious moral qualities, fear, and superstition, as elements 
of goveriimenl ; and select for its basis, the most perfect moral quality of 
human nature." — .4n Ivquiry into (he Principles and Policy of the Govern- 
menlo/the United Stales^ by John Taylor, Virginia.* 



* T am much indebted to this able expositor of Republican 
principles, lor the information be has afforded me on the Ame- 
rican Government ; were bis manner equal to bis matter, his 
" Inquiry" could not but produce a sensible eflect on the 
science of politicks ; as it is, the strength and originality of his 
intellect amply reward the labour of a perusal. 



284 APPENDIX. 



INTRODUCTION. 



1 HE observations I am about to offer on the American 
Government refer less to its forms and details, which are 
siiffioientiy understood, than to its principles, and to the 
essential points of difference betwixt it and all existing 
governments. In considering these, I shall endeavour to 
follow the route (raced by the Americans themselves, by 
beginning with general principles, and thence deducing 
the constituent elements of their polity ; preserving 
throughout, the line of argument adopted by what is 
termed the Demorratick party, in opposition to the Fe- 
deralists, some of whom hold principles widely different. 



SECTION I. 

OF NATIONAL SOVEREIGNTY. 

Individual advantage is the object for which men 
unite in society, and sacrifice a portion of individual 
liberty. Government is compounded of the portions so 
sacrificed. 

The purport of its creation is to guarantee the aggre- 
gate of these individual ailvantages which constitute the 
publick good. But although almost all governments con- 
fess this end of their being, yet having been founded, not 
upon a recognition of the principle, but upon the usurpa- 
tion of some, and the weakness of others, the publick good 
has been almost invariably resolved into the good of one 
man, denominated a king or emperour, or of a few deno- 
minated nobles, and privileged classes. The Americans 
had the singular advantage of being called upon to build 
up a frame of government, " ah initio,^'' so that no reason 
could exist for legitimating an abuse, merely because it 
was established. They were called upon too, at a period, 
when men's minds were thoroughly imbued both with a 
knowledge of the principle, and with a deep sense of the 
calamities which a neglect of it had inflicted on the world. 
They therefore considered it as the key-stone and cement 
of their social edifice. 



APPENDIX. 285 

The end anil purpose of government having thus been 
agreed upon, the question naturally ait>si- of how this end 
was to be obtained? Here a |»re\ii>us roiisidt^ration be- 
came necessary ; namely, ujton what basis governments 
had been and should be erected. 

All governments evidently depended upon power, and 
all pretended a rii!;bt to the power tiit^y exer<ised. The 
origin however of this right was variously ussi-rted, and 
derived from a variety ot sotiicts; somt-iimes it was 
heaven-born; somelimfs an iuiieritance ; nou a prescrip- 
tion ; now a contract betwixt tiie government and the 
people. 

As the American consJiiution acknowNdges none of 
these derivations, it is necessary to give each of them a 
brief consideration, both to m rk this point of distinction, 
betwixt it and otlier guver'meuts, and also to be able 
more safely to determine, to which party most essentially 
belongs the invalualile attriimte of political justice. 

1st. — The plea of som*" men to a Divine right to go- 
vern others, has antiquity on its side : it seems to have 
been successfully resorted to tjy the governing classes in 
the kingdoms ofeariy Grfece. Almost all their heroes 
and chieftains claimeti kindied with Jupiter, and were; 
rectilinear dt-scendants from Kercules and Theseus. 
Claims so exalted, were however, to be supported by a 
superiority of mental and tjodily endowments, in some 
degree commensurate ; so that the sturdy warriours, who 
led the van o( the fight, and bore the tempest of battle on 
shields, which the less practised strength of their follow- 
ers was inade(|uate to wield, might exclaim, probably 
with as much truth as vanity ; 

Paganism wms, however, too lax a system, and the ten 
dency of the Gre«-ks to freedom and knowledge too 
strong, for divine right long to maintain an ascendancy 
over them: it was t>iiried with the Heraclidai, and would 
probably have been forgotten with oracles and omens, had 
not the early Christian church borrowed a similar notion 
from the Jewish dispensations, and employed it as an in- 
strument to perfect an alliance with civil government ; 



286 API'ENDIX. 

to aid the usur[)alioQ8 of which, the Clergy, in considera- 
tion of value received, lent that Right Divine, whicli in 
their own hand proved so etiieacious an inslrumeut of 
subjugation. 

As Ions, however, as the Feudal system held its ma- 
turity of strength, the doctrine of Divine Right seems to 
have had but a vague and partial effect on the military 
Aristocracies which frequently usurped and concentrated 
the whole powers of government.* 

It was not until these were broken up, that we tind it 
assuming an injportant rank among political principles. 

In England, it attained the zenith of its influence under 
the Stuarts; but exposed and confounded by philoso|)hy, 
it grew out of vogue at the period of the Hevolulion; so 
that it seems to have been pretty generally laid by 
among tlie anticpiated notions of past generations ; with 
this exception, however, in its favour, that it should be 
again brought forward whenever a perioil of political de- 
lusion should favour its resurrection ; for though it bears 
its native altsurdity soniev.hat ostentatiously on its front, 
it is a natural favourite with politicians, both on ac- 
count of the ingenious manner, in which it confounds the 
intelligible with the mysterious, the cause of bad men, 
with that of a benevolent Deity; and also from its ines- 
timable qualifjs of rendering reason superfluous. 

2. A right of inheritance in some men to govern others, 
may be thus expressed ; " My father governed your father ; 
therefore, I have a right to govern you." 

A formula which carries little more authority with it, 
than if one should say, " My father murdered your fa- 
ther, therefore 1 have a right to murder you." The sim- 
ple existence of the fact confers no right. Admit the 
right in the terms of. the |)roposition, and it will stand 
thus; "My father had a right to govern your father, 
therefore I have a right to govern you :" that is, you 
inherit your father's rights to govern my father; — grant- 
ed; but you cannot claim as an inheritance, that which 

* The honnst Bishop of Carlisle's speecli against the depo- 
sition of Richard II. seems to be a fair statement of this doc- 
trine, as maintained by churchms^n; while the event shew how 
little it was able to influence the lay nobility. 



APPENDIX. 



28r 



your father did not possess, namely, a right to govern me, 
who was not then horn. 

This imperfect analogy, however, betwixt the inheri- 
tance of property, and that of power; a peri)elual inac- 
curacy with regard to the meanina; of such wonb as 
Crown, Government, and Kingdom, (an inaccwrscy to be 
expected in times and persons iillle accustomed to con- 
sider the import of abstract terms) together with a na- 
tural ()ropensi(y in the human mind to regard that which 
is, as that which should be, have patched up the idol 
of Legitimacy, or Hereditary Right ; an absurtlity of the 
same character with Divine Right, hut more likely to 
keep its fooling in an enliglitened age, because it claims 
an alliance with that reason, which the former religious- 
ly discards. 

3. Custom has been allowed in certain cases to confer 
right ; is it therefore in itself right, or does it become so 
from certain associatioiis ? 

It is clearly not right in itself, because customs may 
be absurd, inhuman, or impious. 

That it sometimes becomes right, seerris equally indis- 
putable. 

By what rule, therefore, must Custom be tried to dis- 
cover in it the quality of right? — Why is any custom ab- 
surd, or inhuman ? Because by militating against reason 
or humanity, it |)roduces evil, instead of good. 

Here then we perceive a standard, by which custom 
may be tried; that of Utility. 

Prescriptive rights to power must Ise examied there- 
fore by this rule; but if it be essential to their approval, 
that they should be so examined, their authority rests on 
another basis than that of prescription, namely, that of 
Utiljty. 

Since therefore, Prescription requires the sanction of 
Utility to become right, by itself it conveys no right. 

4. It was proliahly the evident inadequacy of these' 
sanctions, which gave rise to the supposition of a Con- 
tract betwixt the government and the people, which was 
so far a tribute paid to the more enlightened notions of 
mankind on this subject. I proceed to consider the vali- 
dity of such a contract. 

A contract is an agreement betwixt two parties to do, 
or forbear certain things. 



288 



APPENDIX. 



The validity of a contract depends. 1st, on the right 
of the parties to enter into it ; and this depends on the 
light they have previously over the subject-matter of the 
contract ; for if they have no such right, the contract 
has no more validity than an agreement betwixt two 
thieves, to divide the projterty of an honest man. 

2d. On the ability of the [)arties to perform it. Without 
such ability, it is equivalent to an agreement to cut up 
the moon in quarters; it is an absurdity.* 

How far does a Contract betwixt a government and a 
nation answer to these conditions ? 

If a right to power be derived from a Contract, it did 
not exist previous to that Contract : but the government 

A, consisting of one, or of tifty persons, contracts with 
the nation B, consisting of 5,000.000; therefore A has 
as much right to govern B, as B has to govern A ; but 
by the hypothesis, A contracts to obtain this right, there- 
fore A did not previously possess it, and was not in a 
con<lition to contract. 

Again, the validity of a contract depends on the ability 
of the contracting parties to fuliil it: If, however, A and 

B, have not both a right to power, it must be lodged in 
B, since ^ is to derive it from B; then either B has 
both the right and the power, or B has the right and A 
the power. In the former case, B is dependant on A, 
and must necessarily want ability to fulfil the contract. 
In the latter case, the ability is wanting to B, so that 
a fair contract is im|)0ssible.t 

Admit, however, that a contract could be framed, bind- 
ing on the contracting, or su[)posed contracting parties 
themselves; by what rule could these pretend to bind 

* If the parties are conscious of their inability, the contract 
js fraudulent, if unconscious, they are ^' quoad hoc," no better 
than idiots. 

f HowcFer hypothetical this statement may appear, it i» 
strictly confontia'ile to experience. 

History offers us no example of a contract, in the fair sense 
of the word, betwixt a governinr^nt and a nation. 

In civil contests, the prevailing party has imposed terms on 
the other, more or less severe, more or less advantageous, in 
proportion to the magnitude of the triumph, or the surviving 
means of resistance. 



APPENDIX. 2&9 

their posterity ? Grant that my ancestors could, and did 
legally deliver themselves into bondage to yours, could 
they therefore deliver me to you ; the unborn to the un* 
born ? Whatever right they had lo contract for them- 
selves, the same must I have to contract for myself. 

Should the analogy of testamentary dispositions and 
entails be adduced to support the right of existing socie- 
ties to bind their descendants, it m ly be answered, that 
post-obit dispositions of every kind are creations of so- 
ciety. 

In a state of nature, the rights of each individual die 
■with him ; under the social system, they are prolonged, not 
surely for his own advantage (for it wouKl be a little ab- 
surd to suppose all the present inhabitants of the earth, 
merely usufructuaries for the benefit of their deceased an- 
cestors) but for the general good. 

We are thus conducted to a right deduced, not from 
Contract, but Utility. 

The Americans, rejecting therefore these fantastick 
bases of government, perceived there was one Right upon 
which no question could be raised, namely, the Right of 
each individual to bestow that which belonged to him. 

Each individual, as has been observed, sacrifices, on 
entering info society, a certain portion of his freedom, 
that is, of his absolute and unlimited right over his own 
person and property. But these portions so sacrificed, 
are not lost, nor to be made an appanage for the strongest ; 
but they constitute a general stock of national power to 
be used for the publick good. 

The Right of distribution resides in the nation, because 
national power is a property incapable of being transfer- 
red to individuals; and this Right constitutes National 
Sovereignty, the only legitimate origin of government. 
" For the ancient species of compact," says Mr. Taylor, 
p. 425. " our policy has substituted a chain of subordina- 
tion suspended from its principle of the right of self-go- 
vernment. Our |)olitical sovereignty is the first link, and 
our government the second." 



290 APPENDIX. 

SECTION II. 

OF THE SYSTEM OF ORDERS. 

The Americans having, by means of Conventions, 
given life to the principle of National Sovereignty, pro- 
ceeded lo consider what form of government would be 
most in unison with it. 

They had the light of ages to guide them in their se- 
lection ; and the result of it will instruct us to what pur- 
pose they em;)loyed the means within their grasj); how 
far Ihey are to be considered as servile imitators of Euro- 
pean institutions, and how far they have enlarged the 
limits of political science. 

The three simple forms of government had been so 
generally felt, an i pronounced lo be evil, that there was 
never a question of them in America. 

The com;)ound form, however, or system of Orders, 
was so far from being included in this sentence, that it is 
generally reg'arded in other countries and even by a 
small but respectable party in America, as the Archetype 
of their own government. Mr. Adams' " Defence," 
seems to have been written for the express purpose of 
proving that this either was, or ought to be, the case ; 
and the Federalists are, for the most part, followers of 
the same doctrine. 

The question therefore demands examination. 

If both the funthunental principles, and experimental 
effects of this system are wholly different from" those of 
the American policy, it would be absurd to insist upon 
their being copies one of the other. 

The t>eculiar merit of the system of Orders, or Estates, 
is admitted to consist in the equilibrium maintained among 
them, each acting as a check upon the other. 

The means by which this effect is produced, are also 
admitted to be. jealousy, and a balance of power. 

The result is asserted to be the greatest political hap- 
piness of which mankind are capable. 

Political theories are objects of ridicule to practical 
politicians, yet Plato's republick would seem the vulgarest 
matter of fact, if compared with the system of Orders, 
as laid down in theory. 



APPErrpix. '291 

Three Estates or Orders, naturally hostile, and equal in 
powei, -rirt' to he heid, like the Ass in the Fable, or Ma- 
homet's Cotlin, in a state of perpetuiil neutrality, by the 
operalion of the evil moral quality, jealousy ! 

I know of nothing with which to compare such an in- 
genious piece of moral mechanism, except the celehrated 
dagger scene in The Critick. Were experience howev- 
er in its frtvour, its theoretical etfigy would be unimpor- 
tant; but the deep and sober warning of history flatly 
contradicts its pretensions. 

History tells us, that the three ingredients of the com- 
pound Monarchy, Aristocracy, and Democracy, alike nox- 
ious when single, have exhiliited the same deleterious quj'li- 
ties under every form of combinatiun ; and that so far 
from having ever been held in equilibrium one by ano- 
ther, the moment of their approximation to a balance has 
ever been the signal for civil wars, tercunating in a fu- 
sion of the whole compound into one mass of anarchy, or 
despotism. 

Aristocracy and Democracy were the prevailing forms 
of Grecian polity. The repeated struggles of the two 
factions, throughout Greece generally, and in each par- 
ticular city, denote at least an approximation to a bahmce, 
since neither party couiil completely prevail over ihe 
other; but did they therefore preserve tranquillity and 
freedom ? Did they not, on the contrary, deliver the no- 
blest race of men llu.t ever existed, into the benumbing 
emlirace of al-.solnle power ? 

We have little certiiin knowledge of the early Mo- 
narchy of Rome, lis lineaments, however, exhibit some 
traces of a system of Orders, consisting of a King, Senate, 
and People. 

It hisied until the king felt himself strong enough (o 
oppress, and the people to resist ; when each party had 
recourse to iirms, and Ihe contest was so f;'ir doubtful, that 
the existence of the repuhli<:k was jeopardized. 

The go\ crnmc nt afterwards fell into the hands 6f the 
Senate, vith their reljiiions and connexions, the Patri- 
cians, who [irobiibly at this period constituted an Aristo- 
cracy, acconliiig to the original sense of the word. 

As the Ple'^i-ians grew sensible of their own wcightr 
they put themselves into competition with the Patricians, 
for the purpose of opening their monopoly of dignities, 



292 APPENDIX. 

and breakiog down (heir accumulation of property, by 
means of the Agrarian Law, 

The fate of all those who attempted this measure, 
notwithstanding their talents and popularity, clearly 
proves, that the aristocratical party, notwithstanding its 
occasional concessions, still maintained an ascendancy, 
which could be levelled only by civil war. 

Marius was the first Plebeian consul ; thenceforth the 
contest seems equal, the result was slavery to all. 

We read over again the history of Greece in that of 
the Italian republicks. The nobles and people were so 
far balanced, that neither could, entirely, put down the 
other. In their towns, the body of the citizens pre- 
vailed ; the exiled or defeated nobles took refuge in their 
castles, among their vassals; devastated the country, 
united with foreign powers, and thus recovered their lost 
ground ; but the restoration of the equilibrium never lea- 
tored freedom. The result was the establishment of a 
tyrant, of one party or the other. His reign in some 
degree set up the system of Orders, which lasted until it 
approached an equilibrium, by the awakening of the peo- 
ple to a sense of their oppression and strength, when the 
edifice tumbled to ruin. 

The institutions of modern European governments are 
all of Feudal origin, changed and modified by time and 
accident. 

The Feudal system is itself a curious illustration of the 
effect of Orders in government. It prevailed generally 
through Europe from the dissolution of the Roman em- 
pire almost to our own times ; it had therefore some 
principle of durability : but its dissolution has constantly 
taken place at the moment the equilibrium of Orders 
seemed established. 

In its infancy, as in its old age, it consisted of three 
estates, a King, a Nobility, and the free Tenants. 

During several centuries, the power of the Kings and 
People was dust in the balance) against that of the No- 
bility : alienation destroyed the power of the great vas- 
sals, while that of the Crown continued to increase, at 
the expense of those who had formerly overawed it, un- 
til in France under the Bourbons, in Spain under 
Charles V. and his successors, in England under the 
Tudors and Stuarts, it elevated itself above both the 



APPENDIX. 293 

Nobles and People, Ihe lalter of whom it employed as 
the instrument of its elevation, forcing the degraded no- 
bility into Ihe rank of courtiers and dependants. 

During these changes, the condition of the people 
changed also ; they rose rapidly into importance, so that 
by the time the Crown had com|)leteil its triumph over 
the Barons, they stood upon the ground of equality with 
it. But the wheel did not stop. The Orders thus 
equalized, did not remain suspetuled in an equilibrium 
of everlasting inactivity : in England, where the pro- 
gress of events had been mosi raijid, a civil war en- 
sued, and it would be difficult to disrover any thing re- 
sembling a balance of Orders from this period to that of 
the Revolution. 

In France the same effects were produced more slow- 
ly ; there was no mention of a balance of orders under 
Louis XIV. or XV.; but an ap, roximation towards it 
appeared under their unfortunate successur; we know the 
result was any thing but the so much celebrated repose 
of mutual jealousy. 

There is another and more important period to be ex- 
amined ; that of the present generation. If we can now 
discover tranquillity and ha[)piness resulting from a 
balance of Orders, the Americans may mistrust their con- 
stitution, and leave the Federalists to interpret it. 

Power follows wealth; where one is, there will the 
other be also. The Feudal Aristocracy rested upon the 
solid foundation of ()roperty; with the church, it divided 
the wealth as well as the power of Europe. The power 
of the Crown, which succeeded it, did not rest precisely 
upon the same basis. Alienation and commerce, which 
had impoverished the Barons, had enriched the Commons 
in the same proportion, but the change had been gradual, 
and habits of submission continued to give the Crown 
advantages not naturally belonging to it; it is therefore 
simple enough that it should ha\e acquired an immense 
accession of power in this interval oi Baronial weakness, 
and [)opular ignorance ; but to recover the same or even 
a still greater degree after the people had both felt and 
used their strength, was a process more com[)licated; its 
consideration involves the question of the balance, as at 
present existing. 



294 APPENDIX. 

When Buonaparte assurrnjd a place among llie legiti- 
mate SDv^ecei^iis of E;iio,if, he re.idily perceived, that 
notwiihstaadiug iiis iinincnse military force, there would 
be no stability in the iiniierifil throne, unless he could 
sittceed in raisiii:^ siicil a countervailing jjovver to that of 
the people, as existed under the ancient regime. The 
attem:)t whs m i<le under a partial and niirrow view of 
circumstances : not even Buonaparte could create an 
aristocracy, which had been the work of events and 
tim«s irrevocable. Had he succeeded, the history of 
France would .jiave foretold to him, how little his family 
would h.ave profiled by it. He did not succeed, but 
created a Peerage of phantoms, which added neither 
support nor lustre to his throne; slaves in pros(»erily, 
summer flies in the winter of his dowsifall. He felt this 
errour, and on his return from Elba sought to build on a 
surer foundation ; but tiie real state of the qupslion waa 
then revealed; it was this, that the true strength of a 
nation resides in the body of the People, and that govern- 
nnents which are not founded upon the princiide of Na- 
tional Sovereignty, by which is iniidicd a right in the 
nation to ciioase its own agents, mist rely for their sup- 
port upon force and fraud. The People are never willing 
and knowing victims. 

Little need be said of France since the restoration of 
the Bourbons : it is evident that the ingredients are 
wanting for compounding a new system of Estates, it 
only therefore rem lias lobe seen what fraud and force 
can efifect, agninst the right of self-government. This 
seems acknowledged, that they who use them, have as 
yet little confidence in their weapons. 

I proceed to consider the English system, regarded by 
Mr. Adams, as the most perfect exemplification of the 
system of Orders, with its anti-attrition wheels of mutual 
jealousy. 

" The constitutional government of this island," says 
Blackstone, " is so admirably tempered and compounded, 
that nothing can endanger or hurt it, but destroying the 
equilibrium of power between one branch of the legis- 
lature and the rest," 1. |>. 51. The three co-equals are 
necessarily equal to one another; therefore the House 
of Peers is equal in power to the Crown. Power fol- 
lows wealth ; he who commands the wealth of others. 



APPENDIX. 295 

commands the power attached to thnt wealth. The 
King of Enslnnd, besides a personal revenue of 1,000,000^, 
commands as much more as maintains an army of nearly 
100,000 regular troojts a considenihle fleet, an im- 
mense body of civil agents, with ahunilance of p.ensioners 
anil other persons, attached either by hope or fear \o its 
interests. Let the populi.r strength be deducted from 
either side, and the two parties take Ih.e field wiih their 
own resources, would the contest be prolonged half an 
hour? Would there be- a contest? Shall it be said the 
parties are equal, because the Crown dares not attempt 
the lives or property of the Peers; I ask, why dares it 
not? because the third |>arty would necessarily take a 
part in the contest;' — but this proves any tiling but an 
equality betwixt the two.* 

Is the House of Peers ef|ual in power to the poj)ular 
branch of the constitution ? The jiower of a representa- 
tive body is to be measured by that of the represented ; 
a small portion only of the English people is represent- 
ed; yet even this |>ortion far exceciis, in the sum total 
of its property, that of tl-.e aristocraticai branch, who 
bring with them the weight only of their individual es- 
tates. If in this condition it ie no match for I he Com- 
mons, much less would it be felt, if weighed against the 
whole strength of the Peofile, according to the theory of 
the constitution, and according to tlie inler[>relation of it 
by its admirers in America. 

In France, the Nobility, at the |.eriod of the revolu- 
tion, far exceeded the Fnsjlish |)eerage in all the essen- 
tial qualities of an aristocracy. It ha«l more wealth, 
greater numbers, ampler privileges, ^;nd <leeper preju- 
dices in its favour; yet it \\;.s not more sensibly felt 
than the fly on the bull's horn against the power of tlve 
People. 

It remains to consider the equilibrium of power be- 
twixt the Crown and the People. Whatever the Grown 

* As long" as the nobility were really forinifJable to the 
crown, the latter wattlitd ov<r Hum. hrheld llum with jea- 
lousy, and sought every ocra);ion to diminish their power. 
Does the crnwn any longer watch over, or seek to diminish 
their number and influence ? Does it create a " hatch of peers" 
for the sake of having so many additional enemies? 



29(5 APPENDIX. 

possesses, it derives from the People ; tliere caa there- 
fore be no natural equilibrium betwixt them. 

When Peter the Hermit began to preach the crusades, 
there was nothing like equality of power betwixt him 
and the smallest of his congregations. When he set 
out for Asia at the head of 4 or 500,000 fanaticks, there 
was no equilibrium betwixt them and him : as long as 
the delusion lasted they were as absolutely his instru- 
ments as his beads and staff. Whoever can substitute his 
interest in my mind, in the place of my own, is my mas- 
ter, niore absolutely than if he held me in bondage. 

It is this reflection which must guide as to an estimate 
of the comparative strength of the Crown and People iu 
England. If the latter can be induced to believe their 
interest demands a standing army ; and such a system of 
taxation as shall mortgage the whole pro|)erty of the na- 
tion into the hands of a few individuals ; it is quite 
clear the power will no longer be in their hands, but in 
those of the Crown which holds the sword, and in those 
of the mortgagees to whom their property is pledged. 

The National Sovereignty is therefore in the hands of 
two parties. The Crown, and a new Order in the state, 
entitled the Monied Interest, The history of this order 
is contained in our annals from the time of Sir Robert 
Walpole, who first built it up against the landed or 
Tory interest. 

It is natural to inquire, how an enlightened nation 
could be temi)ted into this act of political suicide. Many 
causes were combined to i)roduce it ; the landed interest 
fell into disrepute from its tory principles ; national ani- 
mosities were carefully fjstered, to hurry the people into 
French wars and German alliances; debt was the na- 
tural consequence, and taxation the consequence of debt. 
Taxation is naturally unpopular; the dullest knave will 
feel through his pocket, and the feeling quicklj^ becomes 
as general as the cause of it ; it was here the princii)le of 
fraud began to exercise itself. It was not easy to per- 
suade the payers of taxes that they did not feel them, 
but it was attem;)ted and found possible to persuade 
them, that this uneasy sensation was like a rash or a 
boil, the surest symptom of vigorous health ; and when 
this was done, it was comparatively easy to go a step 



APPENDIX. 297 

further, and assure them it was not only a symptom of 
good health, but actually the cause of it. 

We citch a glimjtse of the cords and pulleys, by which 
this machinery was played otf, in the fifth chapter of 
Sterne's posthumous works. He was employed, he says, 
to write a pamphlet in defence of Sir Robert Walpole, 
and he thus describes the course he took. " I affirmed 
that (he high price of provisions so loudly complained of, 
arose from the riches and j^tfluence daily flowing into the 
kingdom, under the auspices of our minister. And that 
the accumulation of taxes, like the rising of rents, was 
the surest token of a nation's thriving; that the dearness 
of markets, with these new imposts of government, neces- 
sarily doubled industry; and that an increase of this natu- 
ral kind of manufacture, was adding to the capital stock of 
the commonwealth. I lamented the fatal effects to be 
apprehended from all these heats, animosites, and revil- 
ings, which I said, I had s^ood reason to affirm, were but a 
method of acting apd instilling treason under cover ; for 
that whenever the minister was abused, the king was at- 
tacked. 

" This book of mine has been the codex, or arspolitica, 
of all the ministerial sycophants, ever since that era; for 
I have scarcely met with a paragraph in any of the state- 
hireling writers for many years past, that 1 could not trace 
fairly back to my own code." 

The separate interests created by debt and taxation, 
have both in zeal and number, beeu powerful auxiliaries 
of this system; a part they are the better able to play 
from their concentration, the sphere they occupy, and the 
aid of a venal press. All these advantages would proba- 
bly however, have been found insufficient, had there ex- 
isted any uncontaminated organ of publick opinion, or 
none so styling itself. In the first case, the good sense 
of the nation would have pierced the cloud of so|)histry, 
and having discovered the light, would have had resolu- 
tion to follow it. In the latter, the fountain of supply 
would either have been choaked by despotism and Tur- 
kish darkness, or (which is more probable) would have 
forcibly worked itself a new and purer channel. 

The consummation of the pretended system of balances, 
is to transfer to the Crown and Monied Interest, so much 
of the People's property as will enrich the latter, and ena- 
38 



298 APPENDIX. 

ble the former effectually to protect it in its spoliations, 
The following extract will show this to be the Democra- 
tlck view of the system. 

" IMif effect of opposite interests, one enriched by, and 
goverr^ng the other, correctly follows its cause. One in- 
terest is a tyrant, the other its slave. In Britain, one of 
these interests owes to the other aliove ten hundred mil- 
lions of pounds sterling;, which would require twelve mil- 
lions of slaves to dischargie, at eighty pounds sterling 
each. If the debtor interest amounts to ten millions of 
souls, and would be worth forty pounds sterling round, sold 
for slaves, it pays twelve and an half per centum on its 
capitation value, to the creditor interest, for the exclusive 
items of debt and bank-stock. This profit for their mas- 
ters, made by those who are called freemen, greatly ex- 
ceeds what is generally made by those who are called 
slaves. But as nothing is calculated except two items, 
by including the payments for useless offices, excessive 
salaries, and fat sinecures, it is evident that one interest 
makes out of the other, a far greater profit than if it had 
sold this other, and placed the money in the most produc- 
tive state of usance. 

" Whatever destroys an unity of interest between a 
government and a nation, infallibly products oppression 
and hatred. Human conception is unable to invent a 
scheme, more capable of afHicting mankind with these 
evils, than that of paper and patronage. It divides a na- 
tion into two grou[>s. creditors and delators; the first sup- 
plying its want of [)liysical strength, by alliances with 
fleets and armies, and practising the most unblushing cor- 
ruption. A consciousness of inflicting or suffering inju- 
ries, fills eacb wiib malignity towards the other. This 
malignity first hesrels a multitude of penalties, punish- 
ments, and executions, and then vengeance. A legisla- 
ture, in a nation where- the system of paper and patronage 
prevMils,will be governed by that interest, and legislate 
in its favour. It is imi-ossiUle to do this without legislat- 
ing to the injury of the other interest, that is, the great 
mass of the nation. Such a legisia>ure will create unne- 
cessary offices, that themselves or their relations may be*^ 
endowed with them. They will bsvisii the revenue, to 
enrich themselves. They will borr*Av for the nation, that 
they may lend. They will ofler lenucis great profits, 



APPENDIX. 299 

that they may share ia them. As grievances ^gradually 
excite national discontent, they will tix the yoke more se- 
curely, by making it gradually heavier. And they will 
finnlly avow and maintain their corruption, by establish- 
ing an irresistible standing army,' not to defent! the n^tioa, 
but to defend a system for plundering the nation." Tay- 
lor, p. 38. 



SECTION III. 

OF THE AMERICAN SYSTEM. 

NoTWFTHSTANDiNG the evidence of history, that the 
system of Orders has grown out of feudalism, its theorists 
have maintained it to be the production of fdte, or nature, 
and mankind have, through this belief, been hitherto 
" held enchanted (to use Mr. Taylor's expression) wiihia 
the circle of the numerical analysis." Nature, according 
to this doctrine, engenders Monarchy, Aristocracy, and 
Democracy, all founded on evil moral qualities; and man 
has nothing left to do, but to compound three evils, in 
the best way iie can, and extract nutriment from poi- 
sons. 

The American system supposes moral liberty, or a 
power of choosing betwixt good and evil : without this at- 
tribute, National Sovereignly would be only an ostenta- 
tious display of humr.n weakness. • A nation, willing its 
own interest, yet unable to pursue it, would exhibit the 
tormenting, yet ludicrous aspect of a political Tantalus. 

Man being free to choose, cannot but choose: he has 
moral propensities, subject to universal moral laws. " The 
strongest moral prop?nsity of man (says Mr. Taylor, p. 
76.) is to do good to himself. This begets a propensity 
to do evil to others, for the sake of doing goo(4 to himself." 
This propensity, being governed by motives, is capable 
of increase or diminution. To whatever increases it, we 
give the name of a vicious excitement, and vice versa. 
Government, being comjtosed of individuals, and by indi- 
viduals, contains, and generates the same moral qualities, 
■which will be good or evil, in proportion to the excite- 
ments it contains, to good or evil, projiensities. Upon 
this view of the question, a new mode of analysis is ob- 



300 APPENDIX. 

ta'med, by means of which, governments are defined, not 
according to numerical classifications, but to their moral 
qualities. 

The American system proposes to diminish evil in 
government, by weakening its generative principle; that 
is by affording the least possible excitement to evil moral 
qualities, both in the government and in the people. 

" Governments, (says Mr. Taylor, p. 15P.) whose ele- 
ments are fraud or force, will naturjiily excite the evil 
moral qualities of human nature; and those whose ele- 
ment is reason, can only excite its good. And if every 
government must rely for continuance, either on force or 
fraud, or on reason, it follows that every government 
mnst he founded in good or evil moral principles." 

He enumerates as evil moral principles of government, 
" Hereditary order, and exclusive privilege, legal religion, 
legal freedom of inquiry, accumulation of power, patron- 
age or corruption, ignorance, virtual representation, ju- 
dicial uncontrol, funding, and an oligarchy of banks. 
The good are, national sovereignty, equality of civil 
rights, freedom of religion, and of inquiry, division of 
power, knowledge, uncorrupted representation, and actual 
responsibility." Taylor, p. 406. 

A bare enumeration of principles will not constitute a 
good government ; it is necessary it should be moulded 
of, and in them. Let us examine how far this is the case 
with the government of the United States. 

1st. — National Sovereignty has been determined to be 
the only legitimate origin of power : it is therefore, the 
only moral basis of government, and consequently, the 
only one capable of generating good moral qualities. 

National Sovereignly is incapable of alienation, for 
its supremacy beii)g absolute in every point of time, it 
cannot be divested of it, even by its own act; still less 
by any power derived from itself. Hence follows a strik- 
ing difference betwixt the American system, and that of 
Estates, or Orders. 

According to the latter, the Government is the nation, 
because the three Estates are the nation ; it is therefore 
illimitable, for the same reason that National Sovereignty 
is illimitable. According to the former, Government is 
an agency, and therefore limited by the will and inten- 
tion of the nation. 



APPENDIX. 301 

History tells us, that to insure national tranquillity, 
there must somewhere be lodged, in some portion of the 
body corporate, a preponderating power, against which 
opposition is useless : the contrary to which, is a tenden- 
cy to equalization, or pretended balances, by which na- 
tions have ever been convulsed, and finally ruined. 

Tranquillity and happiness are not synonymous. A 
man is tranquil, because he has no reason to be agitated, 
or he is tranquil, because agitation will procure him no 
relief. Turkey, Russia, France, S|)ain, England, and 
the United States, have been all tranquil for considera- 
ble periods, under very different forms of government; 
but these forms all agreed in the pnrticular, of a prepon- 
derating power, though variously lodged. 

In Turkey and Russia, it seems resident in the Throne, 
and a military Aristocracy ; in France, (before the Revo- 
lution,) and in Spain, in the Throne more exclusively, 
being shared with less independent Aristocracies; under 
Bonaparte, it was in the Army, of which he was the 
chief; in Englanil, it has fallen into the hands of the 
Crown and Monied Interest. In the United States, it 
is in the hands of the Nation. 

We may observe that in all these cases, except the 
last, it is lodged in the hands of a minority, and con- 
sequently depends upon force and fraud. Legal religions 
and standing armies are therefore common to them all. 

In the latter case this power rests upon a natural basis, 
and therefore, needs no artificial means of defence. 
Tranquillity is preserved, because there is no pro|»ortioa 
betwixt the strength of the few interested in destroying, 
and of the many interested in maintaining it. 

2d. — Equality of Civil Rights. Ail men existing in 
society make an equal sacrifice of their freedom, because 
all have equally an absolute right over their persons and 
property. 'I'he extent of the sacrifice being the mea- 
sure of the right, and the absolute right over a shilling 
being equal to the absolute right over a pound, in as much 
as it would be an act no less immoral to deprive the pos- 
sessor of the one than of the other, inequality of proper- 
ty does not superinduce inequality of rights : but rights 
being equal, no man can be born with a ri<rht to com- 
mand another; therefore, hereditary order and inheri- 



302 AI*PENDIX. 

table privileges, are necessarily excluded from the Ameri- 
can system. 

Men have a right over that which is their own ; 
either (o give it or withhold it ; aud they have also a 
right to receive that, whicii others have a right to give. 
The former would be negatived, by a negation of the 
latter. 

The portiojis of individual liberty constituting na- 
tional power, are the property of all, as miich as a joint 
banking or trading stock; with this limitation in both 
cases, that no individual can withdraw his portion, with- 
out separating from the social firm. What belongs to all, 
is to be appropriated by all ; therefore each man has a 
right to a voice in the mode of appropriation; that is, to 
the Elective Franchise. 

This right seems morally susceptible but of two limi- 
tations, crime and pauperism. Jrime is a violation of 
the terms on which men unite in society', mutual advan- 
tage ; it therefore dissolv?s social obligations. 

In the case of pauperism, should the social compact be 
dissolved, the man who has neither proj'erty nor ability 
to gain his bread, would have no portion to reclaim ; and, 
should it be re-constructed, he would have no portion to 
contribute ; because his personal existence depends on 
others. 

This principle, however readily deducible from Na- 
tional Sovereignty, encountered prejudices even in 
America. 

A comparison, however, betwixt the constitutions of 
the old and Nevt States, will show the progress it con- 
tinues to make. 

Virginia has the oldest constitution in the United 
States. " It was framed," says Mr. Jefferson, " when 
we were new, and unexperienced in the science of go- 
vernment. No wonder then, that time and trial have 
discovered very capital defects in it." 

The elective franchise is here confined to persons 
having 100 acres of cultivated land, or [)roperty of equal 
value. The consequence is, that faction prevails, and 
the principle of a division of power is materially neg- 
lected. 

As might be expected, " The great body of the peo- 
ple do not concern themselves with politicks; so that 



APPENDIX. 303 

their government, though nominally republican, is in fact 

oligarchical, or aristocratical." Morse, p. 387. 

In iVIassachusetts and Conneclicut, property to the 
value of 40/. or 50l. or a Ireeholtl of 21. or 3/. yearly 
value, qualities. 

In Rhode, Island and New Hampshire, no qualification 
is necessary, except the payment of taxes. 

New York, and New Jersey, require a small qualifi 
cation of property. 

Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, the Carolinas, 
Georgia, Vermont, Kentucky, Tennessee, Ohio, and In- 
diana, require no greater qualification than either a cer- 
tain period of residence, the payment of a state tax, or 
such trifle of pro|)erty as may bar the right of pau,^rs. 

It is to be observed that a right to vote for State re- 
presentatives confers a right to vote for the members of 
the General government, therefore, in the same degree 
that equality of rights in this particular is preserved or 
violated in the State governments, it is also preserved or 
violated in the G^^neral government. 

The Elective Franchise represents the right of each 
citizen to dispose of his own portion of the publick pow- 
er. His right to become the depositaiy of the portions of 
others is represented by Eligibility. 

This Right seems to hrtve the same natural limits with 
the other: any other restriction operates as a double in- 
justice ; first on the giver, since a limitation of the right 
to receive, is equally a limitittion on the right to bes- 
tow, and if carried to an extreme, destroys it altogether; 
as for instance, if none should be elligible but persons 
above seven feet high. 

Secondly; on the receiver; for though no man has a 
right to power, and therefore cannot comj'lain if others 
do not confer it on him; yet if the law declares'him dis- 
qualified to receive, on account of some contingenc}'' 
over which he has no controll, he is in fact de,prived 
of a (lortion of his natural right 

The General government requires as qualifications; 
age, residence and nalural-liorn citizenship. 

The tirst is rather a delay, than a destruction of the 
right. A Recresentative must be twenty -five, a Senator 
thirty, a Pn-sident thirty -five years of age; and though 
doubtless prudence would commonly adhere to this rule, 



304 APPENDIX. ' 

there seems no adequate reason that the national will 
should be restricted in the exercise of a right, merely 
because it might possibly use it imprudently. 

Every Senator, and Representative must be a resident 
in the state for which he is chosen. The same observa- 
tion seems to apply to this, as to the former limitation. 
It is more probable a citizen of a different State should 
be a tit representative for any particular State, than that 
he should be chosen by it. 

A representative must have been seven years a ci- 
tizen, a Senator nine years, the President a natural-horn 
citizen. Here too it would be more natural to suppose 
prudence in the use, than to limit the extent of the right. 
But t-l^ough these restrictions m^ty be marked as devia- 
tions from the positive rule of equality, there seems no 
reason to conclude, they are either oppressive, or inju- 
rious in practice. It is possible to sup|>ose abundance of 
limitations, all of which wouhl violate the principle, and 
yet not one of them operate as a hardship. 

There are however two species of qualification, re- 
quired l)y some of the State Governments, which seem 
not equally indifferent ; these are. Property and Reli- 
gion. 

First of Property. Almost all the Old States, except 
Connecticut,* require a certain property to qualify for 
the offices of Governour, Senator, and Representative. 
The value of 1000/. in freehold estate is required by 
New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and North Carolina, in 
candidates for the first. Maryland requires 5000Z. and 
South (/arolina 10,000/. For the office of Senator an 
average of 400/. is requisite in most of the Old States : 
and of 150/. tor a Repr^^seutative. 

All persons therefore not possessing property to this 
amount lose their civil rijrht to receive these offices at 
the hands of tlieir fellow citizens. It is true that were 
the law otherwise the practice would be most generally 
the siime. The natuml influence of wealth will be al- 
ways felt, nor would electors be disposed to <legrade them- 

* By the constitution of Connecticut all Freemen are eligi- 
ble to all of!i>es. I am not arqiiainied with the regulation of 
the Western States in this particular, but I doubt if they re- 
quire any other qualiticalion than the people's choice. 



APPENDIX. S05 

selves, and hazard the puhlick business, by choosing 
such men sis from Iheir stations in life could hardly he 
supposed capai>le i>f the information and leisure neces- 
sary for trans;.ctiug it; but (he more likely these reasons 
are to prevail the less cause is there for enforcing lh»m 
by a conslitntional precept, especially liy one which im- 
plies a f.ilsehood, in sujiposin^ a natural connexion be- 
twixt property and merit, or trust worthiness. 

The qualification of property seems therefore a devia- 
tion from the princi|)Ie of equality* in civil rights. 

If, however, the qualifications of Property be not free 
from objection,- still less is that of Religion. 

The constitution? of New Hampshire, Massachusetts, 
Vermont, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and the CarolinJis, 
require a profession of belief in Christianity, and several 
of them limit the species of it to Protestantism. An 
act of the Virginia Assembly requires a belief of the 
Trinity in Unity. 

Here we have a right, subjected to a contingency, 
over which the disqualified person has no control. If the 
evidence of certain doctrines be insufficient to establish 
his belief, doubting is not a matter of option ; but he 
may pretend to believe, and a legislative premium is thus 
offered to hypocrisy :--an(l for what purpose? To ex- 
clude Infidels from offices of trust. — But if the people 
perceive them to he unworthj-, the}' will not elect them, 
and if they do not perceive this, why are Electors to be 
deprived of the right to co») fer, as well as Infidels to re- 
ceive ? The judgment of Eligibility can properly exist 
no where but in the breasts of the choosers. It is true 
these may err, because, being human, they are fallible, 
but they are liable to errour only, whereas legislatures 
which destroy rights, where no offence has been commit- 
ted, are guilty of injustice, as well as errour. 

* It is not intendrd to advocate the idea of bestowing pow- 
er on the lowest uiemlter of the community ; hut it seems 
that the end would Ik' equally answerrd without violatino: the 
principle. In Knujlaiid the qnalilioation (or a member, though 
not sjreat for a wrallhy coimt-y, proves so inconvenii nt, that it 
is found necessary to evade it hv no very honest fiction. 
39 



306 APPENDIX. 

This consideration naturally leads to that of the moral 
j)rinci|)le next eiiumerdteU l>y Mr. Taylor, Religious 
Freedom. 

3. Ueligious Freedom is an inherent civil right, be- 
cause, tir^t, men could ijever surrroder th;it dominion 
over their consciences, whicli they do not i)08sess them- 
selves; ;ind secondly, because eirour in religion is no 
injury done to society, and is therefore not cognizable by 
its laws : yet, from the days of the Pythian oracle, to 
the [iresent time, man l><;s continued to employ the voice 
of Heaven to govern man, atid [trelended, by legal in- 
terference, to i-egal-ile his communion with the Deity. 
Th«- impiety of this attempt naturally gives rise to a 
suspicion that the establi^liers of state relii^ions believe 
in none. "When a government," says Mr. Taylor, 
" usur|»s the power of legislating betwixt God and man, 
it proves itself to be an atheist. If it believed there 
was a God, it would be conscious of the vice and folly 
of making one. If it believed there was any revelation, 
it would see the vice and folly of construing it by laws 
which Are not revelation." p. 45G. 

A state religion must be admitted to be a convenient 
engine, for the few to govern the many. A salaried 
Priesthood exercises over minds the same despotism that 
a standing army exercises over bodies; it enforces im- 
plicit obedience to the dictates of one creed, both in re- 
ligion and politicks, and thrusts the schismatick into 
outer d irkness in both worlds. Were it sincere in its 
belief, it could not fail to shrink from the absurdity of 
assuming to itself the interpretation of the decrees of 
Heaven, and of pretending to confine, within the span 
of its own narr<jw intellect, the justice and mercy of 
Omnipcnent Goodness. 

Should we examine the reasons alleged in support of 
a Legal Religion, we slid! find Ihim all bottomed, either 
on fraud or inipiet}'. A religion establisheil by law, is 
one which the people are compeiie<l to pay for, and pro- 
hibited from deiiying. " i do not believe," (should a 
recusant say,) • the doctrines your church teaches, yet 
you compel me to coniribufe (o its support, and punish 
me if I deny its ilogmns : for whose |)rofit do you thus 
legis'.ile '? cert.iinly not for mific, at least in this world." 
It IS for your etern^d advantage," (replies Established 
Religion,) '■■ you should be thus punished in pocket, and 



APPENDIX. 307 

restrained from uttering your disbelief." " Upon what 
authority do you affirm, that tormenting me here, will 
profit me hereafter /" " Upon authority which is infallible ; 
that of the word of God." '■ Not according to my in- 

teri>retation of His word." " But according to niine^ 

and mine is the only right cue.'' 

If this were sincerely uttered, it would be impiety; 
but thf iieisunal iulviijitrige of the victim is now nirely 
urged, excfpt by (ht t^oly Office; the ground most ge- 
nerally assumed, is, the interest of society, which re- 
quires?, say ;)olilicians and itriesls. tliat there sbnuld be a 
State Religion, and penalties for recusants. The (jnes- 
tiou is here begged upon three j)oint8. First, That there 
would be no religion, unless the law estal)lisbed one. 
Secondly, that the one esialdished is the true : — iiud 
Thirdly, 'JMiat the interest of society requires the sacri- 
fice of individual rights ; the preservation of which is the 
object of society. 

First. — Keiigious worship is a mental act, commonly 
but not necessarily evinced, by certain outward s;>ius of 
devotion. A mental act is no suf)Jecl of legisl -.lion, 
which can neither create nor un-create it : but il can 
create the outward signs; that is, it can create hypo- 
crites, but not worship[iers. It pretends to legislate for 
the Deity, by doing for him what he has thcjughl un- 
necess.iry to be done; namely, the forcing men wilhin 
the pale of a p-articular church. The fact too, is in 
striking contradiction to this pretended necessity. There 
is more religion in the United States than in England,* 

* Rhode Island presents a striking proof of the little real 
necessity there is for the establishment of religion by law. 
"Not only does the constitution of this state reject every 
species of legal establishment, but," says Mr. Morse, " a pe- 
culiarity which distinguishes this state from every other pro- 
testant country in tlie known world, is. that no contract form- 
ed by the minister will) his people for his salary, is valid in 
law. So that ministers are dependant wholly on the integrity 
of the people for their support: since their salaries are not 
recoverable by law. It oii^ht in justice, however, to he ob- 
served, that the clergy, in general, are liberally maintained ; 
and none who merit it have reason to complain tor want of 
support." American Geography, p. 206. 



308 APPENDIX. 

and more in Englanil than in Italy. The closer the 
m mo\)o\y , the less abunilaiit the commodity. 

Secondly. — Why does the law com|tel me to contri- 
bute to miintain a particular church? Because the doc- 
trines of such church are true. Are there more churches 
in this predicament, or is the national church the onli/ 
true one ? If there be more, 1 may as conscientiously 
adhere to one of these as to the le<ral one. Why theu 
must I contribute to the latter, of which I am not a 
m-^m'ier ? If I follow truth, the penalty cannot be for 
the sood of my soul, and it will hardly be pretended it 
is for the good of my pocket. 

If the national church be the only true one, I ought 
indeed to m lintain it ; but we are at issue upon this 
point ; How shall it be decided ? By argument. — But 
why then must I pay before I am convinced ? By au- 
thority. — If (he church be Protestant, this argument des- 
troys its own rights, for it was establis'ed Ui)on reason 
in contradiction to authority. Well then, you shall pay, 
because we who are of the Established Church are more 
numerous than you, and find it convenient you should 
contribute to ease us of our burden. 

There would be candour in replying thus, and candour 
of any sort is preferable to preaching piety, and prac- 
tising injustice. 

Thirdly. — The publick good in matters of religion as 
well as politicks, is frequently urged as a reason for sa- 
crificing individuals. The publick good requires a state 
religion, a state religion cannot be supported, except all 
be compelled to contriliute ; ergo, Sic. — The consequence 
implies the schismatick minority must contribute with 
the rest. 

Experience enables the United States to deny the 
major of this proposition; Religion both exists and thrives 
without a Legal Establishment. It cannot indeed be 
moulded into an instrument of state-craft. 

The General government adheres strictly to the prin- 
ciple ol freedom. It is however violated by the tests of 
some State governments ; by which Jews and conscien- 
tious Infidels are excluded from oifice. 



APPENDIX. 309 

The State ofVir£;inia is, 1 believe, the only one, which 
by an ict of Assembly of 1705, adtls penalties to disquali- 
ficritioiis * 

It has been asserted, that disqnalifications are not 
penalties, because offices are not matter of right, but of 
grace.* 

It is true, as has been already observed, that power or 
office is not a matter of right, but disqualitication destroys 
both the rigbt to 2;i- e and the right to receive ; the latter 
of which is as truly inherent as the former. (Vid. supra, 
p. 303.) 

4. Freedom of Inquiry is another inherent right, 
whether in matters religious or political. 

Legal restraint upon the freedom of religious discussion 
is founded upon two aivsurdities ; one, that the Deity 
needs human aid to vindicate his name; the other, ibat 
man is competent to vindicate it. God visils the atheist 
with no |ieculiar punishment in this life, therffore man 
thinks it necessary he should legislate in the place of 
God. " But we punish for examples' sake, says Persecu- 
tion ; we Iturn bim and his books to prevent the contagion 
from spreading." 

Is the example then so seducing, or the doctrine so 
convincing ? Neiiher; — no man can be an atheist, unless 
he be an idiot or a knave. Well then, for the sake of 
destroying; an example which none but rogues will follow, 
and crushing doctrines whi«'h will, |)ursuhde none but 
idiots, you set an example of cruelty and impiety which 
you know all generations have followed. 

But if the hijrhest species of irreligion be not a fit 
matter for persecution, still less are Ihose differences of 
0|iinion denominated Heresy and Infitlelity. 1 have 
opened the volume of nature t)efore your eyes, saj's the 
Deity, and permitte<l yon to draw your own ronclusions. 
You shall read in my book, s^.iys Rslablishtd Religion, 
and believe all it contains, under pain of persecution in 
this life, and damnation in the next. 

* I imagine this act is practically a dead letter ; its existence 
however violates the principle, vid. Jeflierson's notes. Query 
17. p. 234. edit. viii. 

* Vide the 1st vol. of Warburtoa's "Divine Legation." 



310 APPENDIX. 

A poIKical system which thus substitutes the outcry of 
pride ;iii(l ignorance for the voice of aalure, is built on 
the principles of force ami fraud. 

There is no restraint on political disctission in Ameri- 
ca. This is a trium|>h, both in principle and practice, 
whix'.h Itelongs to the Deniocatick parly. 

In the year 1778, during Mr Adams' administration, 
a sedition law was past, by the second secliou of which, 
the writ.'iig, printing, or puldishing, any false, scandalous, 
and malicious writing, against tiie Government of ihe 
Uirited Stales, either House of Congress, or the President, 
" with intent to defame and l»ring either of them into con- 
tempt," was made punishal>le by tine and imi)risonment. 

The author of the "■ Olive Branch," commenting in fa- 
vour of this law, observes, that it created "a senseless 
and disgraceful clamour," in which however, " were ea- 
gageil vast numl»eis of the best and m.ist intelligent mem- 
bers of the community." He then suitjoins; ''It would 
be uncaniiid not to state, that the trials under this act, for 
libels ngainst the President, and as far as my recollection 
serves me, against some of the other puhlick functionaries, 
were managed with very consi<lerable rigour; and from 
the abuse of the law, tended to give an appearance of 
propriety and justice to the clamour against it The cases 
of Thomas Cooper, and Matthew Lyon, Esqrs., who were 
both treated with remarkable severif}', excited a high de- 
gree of symj>athy in the publick mind. Of the two cases, 
it may be justly said; suinmumjus, summahijuria" p. 35. 
7th ed. Mr. Carey concludes hy obsjerving, that a neg- 
lect on the part of Mr. Jefferson, to procure the re-enact- 
ment of this law, "casts an indelible stain on his ad- 
ministration." 

This statement, taken altogether, forms an invaluable 
commentary on (he justice and wisdom of libel and se- 
dition laws. 

It has ever been the policy of the Federalists to 
"strengthen the hands of Govenunent :" no measure can 
be imagined more etfectual for this purpose, than a law 
which gifts the ruling powers with infallibility ; but no 
sooner was it enacted, than it revealed its hostility to 



APPENDIK. 311 

the principles of the Americaa system, by generating 
oppression under the cloak of «lefen(Jiiig social onler.* 

If there ever was a period whtn circumstances seemed 
to justify what are called euerg:»lick mensures, it was 
during the administrations of Mr. Jefferson and his suc- 
cessor. 

A disastrous war began to rage, not only on the fron- 
tiers, hut in the very penetralia of the repubiick. To 
oppose veteran troops, the ablest generals, and the largest 
fleets in the world ; the American government had raw 
recruits, olBcers who had never seen an enemy, half a dozen 
frigates, and a population unaccustomed to sacrifices, and 
impatient of taxation. 

To crown these disadvantages, a most important section 
of the Union, the New England States, openly set up the 
standard of separation and rebellion; a Convention sat for 
the expreiis purpose of thwarting the measures of Govern- 
ment, while the press and pulpit thundered every species 
of denunciation against whoever should assist their own 
country in the hour of danger.f 

All this was the work, not of .lacobins, and Democrats, 
but of the staunch friends of religion and social order, who 
had been so zealously iittached to the Government, while 
it was administered by their own party, that they suffered 
not the popular breath " to visit the President's breech 
too roughly." 

* In -New Jersey, a man was foimd guilty and punished un- 
der tUU law. " for llie simple h isli that the wadding of a gun 
discharged on a festival day, had made an inroad into, or sing- 
ed the posteriors of iVIr. Adams." " Olive Branch," p. 89. 

t In Boston, associations were entered into for the purpose 
of preventing thf; tilling up of government loans; individuals 
disposed to subscribe were obliged to do it in secret, and con- 
ceal their names, as if the action had been dishonest. Vide 
"Olive Branch," p. 1{07. At the same time immense runs 
wevo, raa<le by the Boston Banks, on those of the crnti^al and 
southern Mates, while the specie thus drained, was transmit- 
ted to Canada, in payment for smuggled goods, and British 
government bills, which were drawn in Unebcc, and disposed 
of in great numbers on advantageous terms to monicd men in 
the States. Mr. Henry's mission is the best proof of the re- 
sult anticipated by our Government, from these proceedings in 
New Kngland. 



312 / APPENDIX. 

The course pursued, both by Mr. Jefferson, and Mr 
M-uHson, throushoul this season of difficiilt}', mi-rits the 
gratitude of their counlry, and the imitation of all govern- 
ments jjretending to b(* free. 

So far were I hey from demanding any extraordinary 
powers from Congress, that they diti not even enforce to 
their full extent, those with which they were by tiie con- 
stitution investeii. 

The process of reasoning, on which they probably act- 
ed, may be thus siatf-'.i. The niajorily of the nation is 
with lis, because the war is national. The interests ol a 
minority suffer, and self interest is clamourous when in- 
jured. It carries its opposition to an extreme, inconsis- 
tent with its political duty Shall we leave it an undis- 
turbed career of faction, or seek to i ut it <Jown, with libel 
and sedition laws ? In the first case, it will grow bold 
from impunity, its proceedings will l)e more and more 
outrageous ; but every step it takes to thwart us, will be a 
step in favour of the enemy, and consequently, so much 
ground lost in |)ublick opinion : but as publick opinion is 
the only instrument tiy which a minority can convert a 
msjority to ile views, impunity, by revealing its motives, 
afiords the surest ciiance of defeating its intent. In the 
latter case, we quit the ground of reason, to take that of 
force : we give tiie factious the advantage of seeming 
persecuted : by repressing; intemperate discussion, we con- 
fess ourselves liable to be injured by it. if we seek to 
shield our reputation by a libel law, we acknowledge, 
either that our conduct will not l^ear investigation, or, 
that the people are inra[);ible of ilistinffuishing betwixt 
truth and filsebood ; l)ut ftr a [io|)ular Government to im- 
peach the sanity r)f the nation's jmlgment, is to overthrow 
the oiliars of its own elevation. 

The event triumidiantly prove<l the correctness of this 
reasoning; the Fe«leralisis awoke from the delirium of 
factious int(»xicition, ant! found themselves ct)vered with 
cotilem »t and shame. Their country had been in danger, 
ami they gloried in her distress : she had exposed herself 
to privations, from which they had extracted profit : in her 
triumphs th^-y had no pan, except th it of bavin": mourned 
over, and de ireciated them. Since the war, Federalism 
has been scarcely heard of. 



APPENDIX. 313 

I proceed to consider the principle of libel-laws, as set 
up asj^iinst freedom of poliiica! didcjssion. 

The laii2;iJa!^e of despotism is honest and consistent on 
this i»oint. In Turke}' she says, You, the peopie, have no 
business with government, but to obey it ; with religion, 
but to believe it. The Koran suffices both for your faith, 
and moral conduct ; you have tiierefore no business with 
discussion, except it be to discuss the arching of a Circas- 
sian's eye brows. — Sieej), and smoke in quiet; v\e answer 
for your souls and bodies. 

Libel-law in a free government, says; Being freemen 
you have aright to discuss the conduct of your govern- 
ment, whether it be right or wrong; provided always, you 
conclude that it is right, otherwise you tend to bring it 
into contempt, and therefore shall be punished. — But it is 
only intem|)erate discussion we object to, say politicians : 
so far from blaming, we are friends to a moderate opposi- 
tion. — Yes, provided it injure you, neither in [wofit, power, 
nor reputation. You would be ticliled, not wounded. A 
well regulated opposition preserves a shew of freedom. 
Two factions are struggling for place; the Outs blame all 
the measures of the Ins, but they would not therefore di- 
minish the perquisites of the places they hope one day to 
fill. 

Discussion may attack Persons, or Principles. 

The American constitution, by confining treason to 
overt acts, leaves the utterance of opinions free, however 
they may tend to bring the constitution into contempt. — 
Why ? Because discussion being free, it supposes truth 
will prevail. 

If therefore the constitution could be shewn to be bad, 
it seems more rational to amend, or change it, than to 
punish those who reveal its defects. Libel law supposes 
either that falsehood is in fair fight, more |)otent thau 
truth, or that political systems may possess the tirst attri- 
bute of the Deity, i)erfeclion. 

They set up a political idol, and say; "Behold your 
God; bow down to it: you may find fault with the trap- 
pings of its throne, or the pavement beneath its feet; or 
even, provided it be done tenderly, with the ministers of 
its altar, but beware of proclaiming that it is itself the 
work of hands, wood and stone." 
10 



314 APPENDIX. 

A Constitution which permits the free examination of 
itself, falls into an absurdity, wlien it passes a law to shield 
its agents from a similar freedom. It is still more absurd 
to erect a man into a God, than a constitution; it is also 
more dangerous, for the living idol will not be long satis- 
lied with empty prostrations ; it must be fed with lives 
and property. 

Is therefore every species of calumny to be poured out 
against a government, without restraint or punishment ? 
Calumnies against the theory of a government, injure no 
one ; nor the government itself, except it be founded on 
evil moral principles. The evidence of facts would bear 
it out, even were there not more persons interested in its 
defence than in its attack. The annals of the world offer 
not a single instance of a good government overthrown, 
or brought into contempt by discussion. Manliind are not 
too prone to change habits, even of the worst descrip- 
tion ; they have gone on for ages and centuries enduring 
tyranny and oppression, for no better reason than be- 
cause their fathers endured them before. Libel-laws are, 
indeed, essential to the security of governments founded 
on force and fraud, as masks and daggers protect thieves 
and cut throats. 

The persons administering a government, cannot re- 
quire greater immunities for themselves than the Constitu- 
tion claims for itself. " Reverence for a magistrate, (says 
Mr. Taylor,) is frequently contempt for a constitution." 
He thinks himself unjustly assailed ; shall he therefore 
have a law for his protection, which he may convert in- 
to an instrument of oppression ? If the situation he fills will 
neither enable him to defy calumny, nor remunerate him 
for its injustice, he is free to return to the walks of pri- 
vate life, and claim, as an individual, that legal protec- 
tion for his character, which the constitution affords him, 
but let not ministers be gratitied with the sacrifice of 
inherent rights to protect their own crimes and follies. 

" Caligula's appointment of his horse to the consulship, 
is both an illustration and a mockery of the ideas of na- 
tional sovereignty without the freedom of utterance ; and 
a nation, tlie members of which can only speak and 
write as Government pleases, is exactly this consular 
sovereign." Taylor, p. 472. 



APPENDIX. 315 

5.— Division of Power is the vital spirit of the Ameri- 
can system : convert it into accumulation, and all other 
securities perish ; preserve this, and they can never be 
altogether extinguished. 

Man is feeble when confined to his own individual 
means; Power enables him to use the strength of others; 
it is : therefore the readiest instrument for. gratifying his 
own desires at the expense of others, and ranks foremost 
in the class of vicious excitements. 

Is this vicious attribute of power capable of being 
neutralized ; or must a nation, in framing its government 
necessarily submit its neck to a yoke ? Monarchy, ;aristo- 
cracy, democracy, and the system of orders are all so 
many memorials of the eflbrls mankind have made to free 
themselves from the dilemma of anarchy and desjiotism. 

They have all been unfortunate, for they have all work- 
ed by different roads to the same end, namely, the substi- 
tution of the interests of a minority for those of the majo- 
rity ; but they have all this common quality, concentra- 
tion of power in the hands of a few. 

The American system, deeming the nation the fountain 
of power, considers it absurd to collect it a second time 
into reservoirs, which are not the nation ; and therefore 
distributes it in streams sufficient only to give motion to 
the several engines of government. 

The principle of Distribution may be thus stated : — 
Power is a vicious excitement, because it impels its posses- 
sor to gratify himself at the expense of others ; the greater 
the power, the greater the possible gratification : concen- 
tration therefore affords the greatest possible excitement. 
But as the increase of power increases its vicious qualities, 
so will its diminution diminish them : diminish it therefore 
to such a degree that it is unable to extract any selfish 
gratifications at the expense of others, and it becomes di- 
vested of its evil moral quality, and capable of being em- 
ployed to the advantage of the people. But as govern- 
ment represents all the portions of individual liberty sa- 
crificed for the good of society, its power must, in the ag- 
gregate, suffice to oppress individuals, unless some expe- 
dient be hit upon, to counteract this effect. This expe- 
dient is Division. The American people, by sacrificing a 
much less portion of its freedom than other nations, or 
rather by retaining in its own hands, powers, which other 



316 APPENDIX. 

nations have commiffed to their Governments, has sought 
in dimioulion a iqt'thod of counterjictino; tht^ evil eftV-clsof 
power: it em|)loy3 Division Icrr the same jiurjtose by in- 
vesting the General, and State ijovernments respectively 
with a [lorlion of Mower, which portion is ag:»in subdivid- 
ed in each atnong several agencies, entitled Executive, 
Legislative, and Judicial branches. 

The test of the success of these expedients, must be 
looked fi»r in the espenence the nation possesses of the 
ability of one, or all of them, to extract individual grati- 
fic; tion at the |)ublick expense. 

The portion ol power allott,?d to the General govern- 
ment naturally claims the first place in this examination. 

In 1798 Virginia, and Kentucky framed resolutions 
expressive of an idea that the. General Government had 
evinced a spirit of encroachment, "tending to consolidate 
the States into one sovereignty."* The political prin- 
ciples of the Federalists are acknowledged to have this 
tendency. It is from their dis[to?ition to strengthen the 
General Government, under the idea of strengthening the 
union, that they first obtained, or assumed the name of 
Federalist. 

We accordingly find, in the executive power of the 
General Government, a degree of accumulation not quite 
consistent with the princ!j>le of division, ohser^ed hy the 
State Governments. " The goveruours of nine States, 
comprising a majority of the |)eople, are annually chosen, 
and are ineligible after certain terms; those of the other 
states are chosen for two and three years one excepted, 
and a multitude of other important differences exist, be- 
tween the modification of executive power, under the 
General and State constitutions." Taj'lor, [». 169. Now 
if the Governors of thirteen States have for thirty years, 
found their limited powers sutficient for executive purpo- 
ses, it would follow, that those of the General Executive, 
must be more than sufficient. 

The power of the President has been, seemingly with 
justice, compared with that of the King of England ; the 
difference consists less in the power each of them pos- 
sesses, than in that which the people of either nation re- 

* These Resolutions were framed by Mr. Madison and Mr. 
Jefferson. • 



APPENDIX- 'Ji? 

tains : Mr. Taylor lliws draws Ibe comparison : " Tliis 
King cannot create oftices, inflict taxes, pass laws, or raise 
armies; neither can tlie President. Tiie King can ap- 
point officers, disburse taxe^, recomnneud laws, and com- 
mand armies ; so can the President. This Kinsr can 
make treaties under check of two legislative hranches ; 
the President can make treaties under the check of one. 
This King can appoint the memi>ers of the legislature to 
lucrative offices ; so can the President ; and in both cases 
an appointment vacates the seat. This King appoints the 
judges and the officers who a|)point the juries; so dues the 
President." p. 172. 

It would seem, that the framers of the General Govern- 
ment had the English constitution in their contemplation, 
■when they invested the President with this accumulation 
of power ; less probably because they wished to assimilate 
the two, than because the theories which htul been built, 
upon the system of or<lers, hail concurred in the idea, that 
particular powers and patronage were essentially inherent 
in the executive ; a notion, which if closely examined, 
has, perhaps, little foundation; the result however is, that 
the American government is iioth more like the British 
than it seems, and also seems more like than it is, accord- 
ing to the point of view of the observer. 

The little external parade, the alsence of a court, no- 
bility, army, and established church ; with the elective 
nature of the presidency, seem to form distinctions suffi- 
cient to destroy all comparison betwixt them. The com- 
parative estimate of executive powers, above quoted, 
seems, on the other hand, to give them a radical, though 
unostentatious apjiroximation ;* and would in fact do so, 
but for two principles of the system, which it remains to 
consider. — IJncorrrupted Representation, and actual Res- 
ponsibility. 

6. Uncorrupted Representation. — Democracy is a form 
of government, capable of exciting evil moral qualiiies. 
It is evident, that a nation has no interesi in o[)pressiiig in- 
dividuals, but it is possilde, under particular circnmsian- 
ces, to persuade it that it has such an interest ; and tliese cir- 

* It was probably on this view, tliat Mr. P;amIolph spoke, 
when he said in Congress. "Torture the ronstitiilion as y«)U 
will, the President will appoint his siicce'^sor. and sloiiid lie 
ever have a son of the proper age, that son will succeed him." 



318 APPENDIX. 

cumstances necessarily arise more frequently iu democra- 
cies ; first, because the people being its own agent, and 
legislating co!Iectivel3^ its errours of judgment lead on the 
instant to erroneous, or vicio-is actions : secondly', because 
in all assemblies, some individuals must lead, and if the 
leaders be vicious, they Avill substitute their own interests 
for those of the community. Democracies are therefore 
liable to errour and violence. 

It is easy for a nation to avoid these inconveniences, 
by committing its power to agents, but this is reminlying 
an evil by a greater, since agents, with the same means, 
have far greater inducements to oppress individuals. 
Representation was invented to avoid both, by diminish- 
ing the liability to errour, inherent in democracies, and 
also the propensity to oppression, common to other forms, 
constructed with undelegated power. 

If a nation exercises sovereignty, neither corporately 
nor by delegates, it abandons the right of self-government, 
and accepts the evils of des[)otism. 

What is representation ? The exercise of a vicarious 
function. How can one man stand in the place of, or 
represent another ? Clearly not by his own act. and au- 
thority, for such an attempt in any transaction of life, 
would be regartled either as an indication of lunacy, or as 
fraudulent, and dishonest. The act of the person repre- 
sented is therefore essential to the constituting a represen- 
tative ; besides, one man can only be said to represent an- 
other, when he expresses such sentiments, or performs 
such acts, as the person represented would, most probably, 
himself perform, were he present in person ; in this man- 
ner, one man may represent many,* provided the many are 
essentially of one mind, as to the matters to be performed 
by the representative. But what certainty can be obtain- 
ed, that one man represents the will and opinions of many, 
unless the many, by an act of delegation, so declare ? Elec- 
tion, therefore, is essential to representation. But if so, what 
meaning is to be attached to representation, not founded 
on election ? or, with what reason can such representa- 
tion be stjMed virtual or essential, when it is built on the 
exclusion of that which constitutes its essence ? Yet, 
Mr. Adams considers an hereditary monarch, as repre- 
senting the whole nation, in its executive capacity ! 

* The proportion of representatives fixed by the constitution 
for the general government, is one to every 30,000 inhabitants- 



APPENDIX. 319 

The whole American system is representative. The 
Senate re|)resen(s (he States; each State sends an equal 
number of Sejiators (two) that equality may he preserved 
hetwixt the strong and the weak, the small and great 
States. 

The Senate re|)resents the federal will, as the House 
of Representatives, the popular will. 

The President representsj both. " He is," says Mr. 
Taylor, " the compound creature of the equality of states, 
and of the equality of man, l)oth of which are infused in- 
to the mode of his election, for the purpose of preserving 
both." p. 505.* 

If there were any portion of power in the American 
system, not derived from the nation, that portion would 
be at variance with the princi[)le <|f National Sovereign- 
ty, and built upon those of force and fraud. 

When power has been distributed and conferred by 
election, is all done that is necessary to secure freedom, 
and prevent the abuses of Constitutional Agents ? Elec- 
tion may become a most eflficacious instrument of tyran- 
ny, by conferring powers unlimited, or ill-defined. Bona- 
parte was an Elective Despot. 

But when the powers of the functionary have been lim- 
ited by constitutional precept, does any further danger 
remain ? Power not representative, is not subjected to 
the national will, and therefore may be used against it; 
but we have considered it essential to representation, that 
the representative should disclose sentiments conformable 
to those of the represented : What security have electors 
for this ? Human opinions change: the mind of man is 
not to-morrow what is to-day ; consequently, the repre- 
sentative of to-day may be no representative to-morrow\ 
Theoretically, there is no remedy for this evil, because 
it results from the natural qualities of the hu.nan mind ; 
but its practical evils may be averted, by diminishing the 
period of representation in such a degree, that frequent 
recurrence must be made to the national will; so that 
changes of opinion betwixt the electors and elected, may 

* The mode of Presidential Elections, has been found so ob- 
jectionable, that a hill was brought into Congress, in December 
1816, to amend the Constitution in this particular, by leaving 
the States less discretionary power, and augmenting the popu- 
lar influence. 



320 APPENDIX. 

have no lime to operate to tlie piihlicif disadvantaa;e. 
This recurrence constitutes tiie |)rincij)le of Rotation, ap- 
plied to all offices of the Aiiu^riciUi Government. 

The House of Representatives is chosen every second 
year. Tlif senators are chosen for six years; but they 
were divided, on their first election, into three classes, 
one class to vacate their seats every second year; so that 
one thin! of the whole Ivxiy is t>i.nnially rene\yed. 

The President holds his office for four years. 

The desii^n of the Americ.ia Government being to de- 
stroy the operation of evil moral jtrinciples, the duration 
as well as the extent of rejiresentative power, becomes 
a question rediicil>le to the criterioa of experience, pro- 
nouncing how freqnentlj'^ it ni'ist be renovsited, to prevent 
its awakening vicious j^pensities. Aiisolute power, con- 
veyed by election, for however short a period, destmys 
NationalSovereignty ; because, to the greatest possilde 
excitement to <lestroy rotation, it unites the greatest pos- 
sible means. A less degree of power, conveyed for an 
unlimited lyeriod, produces nearly the same effect, because 
power attracts power; and having no constitutionril limit 
to its duration, it will go on increasing into despotism, 
unless checked by Revolution. 

The evil qualities of Power, increasing therefore in a 
ratio compounded of its intenshy and duration, provided 
these l)e reduced to a minimum, the evil qualifies of Pow- 
er will he diminished in like proportion. Tlie minimum 
of Political Power, is the quantity sufficing for the pur- 
poses of its creation only : whatever is more than this, 
becomes an instrument of individual profit in the hands 
of its possessor. The minimum of Duration, is that 
wliich merely suffices for publick business. For example, 
if a President, without the power of appointing Judges, 
should be found equally capable of filling the executive 
station, with one possessing this power, the former is more 
in unison with the principles of the American Constitu- 
tion than the latter. If a House of Representatives, 
elected annually, be found as efficacious for the pur- 
poses of publick business as one elected biennially, the 
former is, for the same reason, to be preferred to the lat- 
ter. 

The question of representation involves that of politi- 
cal corruption, because it is in vitiating the former, that 
the evil effects of the latter are most conspicuous. 



APPENDIX. 321 

Montesquieu has made Virtue (he vital priDciple of 
Republiccinism ; and consequtnces ihe most injurious 
to Freedom, liave beeu deduced from this autlioritative 
axiom. 

The essence of Republicanism is virtue ; but manliind 
are vicious; therefore a Republicic is an impossible form 
of Government ; and tlie demonsiratiou is usually closed 
with a piiying glance of conscious superiority, at such as 
are romantick enoni^h to dream of Virtue, Republicanism, 
aud the Perfeclibilu^y of thf human species. 

The sophism lies iu the double meaning of an abstract 
term. 

If by Political Virtue, be understood a sacritice of 
self-interest, an heroick abstraction of personal consi- 
derations, such a quality neither is, nor could be a ge- 
neral principle of human action. It may burn in the 
bosoms of a few consecrated individuals, shining here 
and there, athwart the night of ages, but a system of Go- 
vernment which should require its habitual and uniform 
agency, could exist no where but on paper. If, on 
the contrary, by Virtue, we understand a principle of 
utility, evincing itself by laws, operating for the general 
good, then is V irtue both the essential principle of Repub- 
licanism, and also a quality sutiicienlly attainable by hu- 
man institutions. A republick cannot exist without vir- 
tuous laws, that is, without laws generally useful ; :but is 
any degree of self devotion re(|uisite to the making of 
useful laws, or can none but completely virtuous men 
make them ? On the contrary, cannot robbers frame laws 
generally useful to their own society ? A law generally 
useful, is one conformable to each man's individual in- 
terest. And how can men be induced to frame such laws ? 
By a knowledge of this interest. General utility there- 
fore, resolvable into enlightened self-interest, is the vital 
principle of Republicanism. 

When a nation commits its legislative powers to indi- 
viduals, chosen by itself, what security has it that these 
will legislate for the general, and not for their private ad- 
vantage '! By lecturing them on virtue, and self devotion ? 
Clearly not — but liy withdrawing from them all tempta- 
tion to otfend. If they be entrusted with the power of 
pocketing the publick money, they will [locket it ; or if 
the Executive branch be enabled to confer a [tortion of 

41 



322 APPENDIX. 

it on them, they will accept it, and in return legislate, 
both to increase tiie capability of the Executive to con- 
fer, and of themselves to receive: they will concur ia 
debt, taxes, and siaiiding armies, provided they are io be 
rewarded with loins, lucrative jilaces, and commissions; 
and if a seat in the leiiisiature be the portal to these ac- 
quisitions, they will |)rociire seats 03' briltery and corrup- 
tion, and double the publick impositions to repay them- 
selves the price thus advanced. But will the eh dors 
suomit to he bribed and corrupted, and thus lit'comt: the 
instruments of their own opijressiou I Yes — for if one 
branch of the constitution possess the means of corrup- 
tion, the other will not fail to become its instrument. The 
elector therefore re.isons thus; the Presiilent can by law 
bestow a lucrative office on my repn sentalive. and my 
representative can by law accept it; he will th«^refore, 
either from possession or expectation, legi&laie in the 
President's faviuur: if 1 refuse the bribe he oilers me, the 
issue will be the same; and though 1 am aware a«)ililioG- 
al taxation must enable him to repay himself the sums 
thus expende«l, yet my share of the tiix will be less 
than my sh tre of the bribe. — if the system admits of 
corruption the fqrmnia? are mere matters ot' mooiishuie. 
The statement of the evil unfolds the remedy. The 
evil lies in the President's ability to bestow, and th-jt of 
the representative to receive; the latter is a consequence 
of the former. Destroy the former, and you leave, ia , 
the mind of the re[tresentative, no interest superiour to 
that which he has in common with his constituents ; the 
interest all the metn')ers of a state have, in the making 
of good laws; he will consequently legislate in favour of 
this interest. 

It is admitted however, thnt a certain degree of pa- 
tronage must be attached to the executive branch of the 
constitution. The question conse(iuently becomes one 
of j)ln8 and minus, a mutter of calculation to discover 
the quantity with which it may be safely entrusted, so 
thnt it shall neither have the means of bribing the legis- 
lature, nor the Isgislature in consequence find it worth 
while to bribe the people.* 

* If the means be limited, the number of prizes in the Po- 
litical Lottery is dimiiiislied. If a proportionate increase of 
Representatives Ibllow an extension of the rig:ht of .sufiiase, 
and Elections be made more trequent, the chances of gaining 



APPENDIX. 323 

It may be doubted if the American system has ab- 
solutely reached (hf minimum in this res|)ec(; certain 
however it is Uiat liie (leople retain Siich a control over 
their rejiresenlHlives, as eiiher vvholl} to prevent their le- 
gislating in iheir own favour, or to com:»el them to a 
speedy reciiiiiation. should -hey attempt it.* 

The solution of the ((Uirstion of political corruption 
inci.'ientally resolves that of Universal Suffrage ; a right, 
as tias been seen, resiricted by several of the Slate Con- 
stitutions, aliliough, except in Virginia, the qualifications 
required are |)rotial)ly such as to exclu(ie few but pv.u- 
pers. The question is therefore rather of abstract right, 
than of practice. 

When the right of suffrage is limited, that is, when 
persons contriimting to the expenses, are debarred from 
any share in the control (if the expenditure «)f the State, 
the fv-json of this limitation (if the nnkei) jus fortioris be 
not assumed) must be sought in some pretext of moral 
guilt, or of j'liltlick utility. It is obJMttd, that poor men, 
that is, men who have less than the majority of tlieir 
fellow citizens, will be tit sulijects for bribery : — granted, 
but upf)o what grounds are they jhtrelore to l*e (lunished ? 
If :i deprivation of an iidierent right is to be attached to 
a Itdltiiity to be corrupted, why sbouUI not the si'me de- 
privation be attached to the lialiility to corru[)t, and 
very rich men l^e equally punished with very poor men? 
The moral guilt would be at least ecpial should the crime 
be committed, and that they should be presumptively 
punished, is no harder in one case than tlie other. If 
not moral guilt, but publick utility be ihe object, it seems 
suiiertiuous to object to popular corruption, under a sys- 
tem which enforces legislative corruption. Where the 
carcass is, the Hies will be collected, if one branch of a 
government possess the' means to corruiil, the other 
branches will present the facility to be eorrupted, what- 
ever may be the mode of their election. Under such 

a prize are proportionably reduced, until it becomes a knave's 
interest to be honest, or forbear his political calling. 

* An instance occurred lately. Congress passed a bill, 
commuting the daily allowance to Meniliers for an annual 
stipend.- The People resented such an appropriation of the 
publick money : turned out tbrty of the ofli.nding Members at 
the next Election, and compeiled the rest to sing a Palino- 
dia. 



324 



APPENDIX. 



circumstances, the limitation of Ihe elective franchise, 
and laws againsi !^ril.>ery and conuptiun, are equivalent 
to a law prohihitiijg maggols from breeding in a dead 
dog: bury theiarcass, and there will be no broods de- 
riving life from its putridity: to drop the metaphor, re- 
move the means of corrupiiun, and there will be no bribe- 
ry for the purpose of being corrupted. The peisons 
most ready to bribe are precisely those, who have Ihe 
least inclination to expend their money without a siitfi- 
cient return : the people are not corrupted by those who 
are to reap no fruits from their corruption, and when no 
one has interest in briliing his sutlrage, the poor man's 
vote is as liable to be well bestowed as the rich man's. 
The true state of this qufstion will be further evident, 
from considering the futility of all remedies for corrup- 
tion, which do not reach the heart of the disease, la 
Virginia, great powers of patronage are concentrated in 
the Legislature, much corruption, is, consequently, to be 
found in thfe Government, and yet the Elective Fran- 
chise is more limited than in any State of the Union. 
To destroy corruption bj' limiting the Elective Fran- 
chise, proceeds u[ion tlje logical errour of tion caiisam 
pro causa; that bribery is |;ractised, because there are 
people capalde of being brilied, not l)ecause there are 
people who tind it worth while to tiribe (hem. 

Another false position is assumed, namely, that none 
but poor men are capable of being bril)ed; and this too, 
while the very act of limitation implies, that rich men 
will bribe, and consequently, receive brilies. -The re- 
presentative who buys the elector's vote, sells his own to 
the President, or to whatever branch of the constitution 
possesses the means of buying it : it is true, that the vote 
of a man of property may cost more than that of a poor 
man, but this is made up to the candidate in the dimin- 
ished number of his purchases ; so far, however, is this 
diminution from diminishing the inducement to sell, that 
it evidently increases the temptation, by raising the value 
of the commodity ; and so on, the greater the diminution 
becomes. 

7. Actual Responsibity. — Responsibility pervades eve- 
ry portion of the American System: each branch of 
the Government is responsible; therefore, the whole is 
responsible.* 

* Punishment in cases of impeachment, extends only to 
removal from office and disqualification : the reason seems to 



APPENDIX. ■ 325 

Responsibilitj' implies a jiower superiotir <o that of re- 
sp<»nsil;le ajjents : it would be absurd to sii[»i)ose a greater 
power res,ionsii)!e tc* a less, or an equal to an equal. Ac- 
cording to (lie Anieriiiati sysUm, this superiour power is 
in the nation, which has reserved to itself the means, both 
of manifesting and of eniorcing its will. The House of 
Representatives is the organ it employs for (he first of 
these purposes; the iVliiKia for the second : these, toge- 
ther, constitute the moral and physical expressions of 
National Sovereignty. R(5i»onsibi!ity, therefore, hinges 
upon uncorrupted representation, and division of power. 
The separation of these two pii«ciples discloses on either 
side anarchy and despotism. Should the moral organ be- 
come vitiated; should the House of Representatives cease 
to represent the people, and consequently to express the 
national will, (here remains only the eri|'loyment of 
physical force, to avoid the evils of despotism ; but physi- 
cal force, however adequate to punish and destro}% is too 
commonly found an inadequate instrument to amend and 
re-establish. 

The other alternative is still more fatal. Should the 
nation give (he sword from its own grasp, while its organ 
of representation is still uncontaminated, the latter, to 
use Mr. Taylor's expression, " is John the Baptist preach- 
ing to a wilderness :" nor will the barren boon of pro- 
claiming its own imbecility be long conceded to it ; that 
branch of the Government, which had found means to 
disarm a nation, will not long fail, either forcibly to silence 
its representatives, or, still more fatally to convert them 
into panders of its will, and sharers in its corruption. 

U[)on a review of the History of Governments, both 
ancient and modern, we find, that all of them have been 
proved adequate to ensure considerable |)eriods of publick 
tranquillity, jjrovided they possessed such a concentration 
of power, as to render opposition fruitless. But history 
also teaches that this same concentration has no less in- 
variably destroyed pul)lick happiness, by destroying re- 
sponsibility, and committing the whole management of 

be that responsibility attaches itself to the abuse of legal 
powers only, not to breaches of positive law which are cog- 
nizable by the ordinary courts of justice : but actions which 
are not illegal, cannot justly be punished as crimes; but tliny 
may evince viciousness of intention, or weakness of intellect, 
and in either case, the nation justly assumes the power of with- 
drawing the authority it had bestowed for its own advantage. 



326 ' APPENDIX. 

the political machiue to force and H-aud. The object of 
the American system is to secure both : |>ublick happi- 
ness, l)y the res.oiisibilily of political agents; and tran- 
quillity, by a concentratioJi of power. How then are the 
evils resultins? from the latter, untler other systems, avoid- 
ed in this '! By chan2;ing the (iei-ositaries. — When a gov- 
ernment is slronijer than the nation, national sovereignty 
is a dream, and constitutional rights waste paper, on wnich 
governments in8cril)e taxes, standing armies, patrt)nage, 
and corruption. The American people are stronger than 
thn government, in the proportion of lifly to one, or of 
500,000 Militia to 10,000 regular troous, and if we take 
into calculation the immense territory over which the 
reirulars are scattered, the proi>ortion may well be set at 
500 to one. 

The Am<'^rican Government has been accused of weak- 
ness and inefficiency. If its strength be measured against 
that of the peo|)Ie, the above statement will prove the 
accusation just. If it be considered in union with the 
puhlick will, it is probably the strongest on earlh ; since 
It is backed tiy the whole moral and physical power of 
th« nafioii ; in proof of which may be alledged its ability to 
steer through the period of the late war, without requiring 
the additional defence of a single act of Congress; and 
the simjilifily with which it works, in ordintry times, 
when a consiable's stall" is sufficient to enforce the execu- 
tiuii of the law from Maine to the Missouri. It is proba- 
ble the weakest of all Governments are precisely those 
whii^h call themselves vigorous and energetick ; and 
shouM that of America be ever heard to call for laws to 
pul down the factious, and to declare that the anarchical 
spirit of the times required the application of measures 
unusually vigorous, and contrary to the practice of her 
better days, however the forms of her constitution may 
be retained, its princi[iles will have been rooted out, and 
fraud and force substituted in their place, to work the 
gratiiicafion of the few, at the exi)ense of the many. 

8. — Knowledge — Knowledge is power. Men submit 
as implicitly to those who persuade, as to those who com- 
mand them : with this distinction in favour of the former, 
that good will accompanies persuasion, and shrinks from 
authority. All Governments are sensible of this truth, 
and it is for this reason, that such of them as are establish- 
ed upon a denial of national sovereignty, and consequent- 



APPENDIX. 327 

* 

ly upon evil moral principles, never fail to unite fraud to 
force, for the |)urpose of cominaiitliii^; the minds, as veil 
as bodies of their subjects. The ouject, in this case, is to 
substitute in the miuiis of the governed, the advantage of 
their rulers, for their own; and this may be eflecletl in 
two ways; fiisl. liy not suffering them to be instructed at 
all, in which case the power of Government presses wjih 
the force ttf falalism, and requires ouly the aid of a legal 
religion to give it a divine sanction, that the mental chain 
m.iy be completely rivetted. Secondly, by the Govern- 
ment becoming itself the instructor : which is generally 
etfected by means of a legal religion, by the priests of 
whicir the business of education is, by various i>rocesses, 
monopolized. Knowledge, under these circumstances, re- 
sembles light passing through a coloured medium ; it repre- 
sents the form of objects, but gives th*^m artificial hues. 

The America^ system is necessarily repugnant to both 
these methods : the right of instruction is one of those 
which the naiion retains in its own hands. To entrust it 
to a government or a priesthood, would he to sul stitute 
the political or religious creed of a sect, or party, in the 
place of the interests of the naiion. 



SECTION IV. 
OF THE EFFECTS OF THE AMERICAISI SYSTEM. 

Governments create neither men nor food ; consequent- 
ly they cannot create happiness.* 

Their operation is preventive, by neutralizing the ten- 
dency each man has to injure others, for the sake of bene- 
fitting himself; and this seems to be the only positive ope- 
ration by which they are caiiable of promoting national 
felicity. The first and essential attribute of good govern- 
ment is, thereffire, security for j)ersons and property, by 
means of which the universal stimulus of self-love is* left 

* Happiness, as a political result, may be defined to be the 
enjoyment of personal freedom, and of the means of'snbsistence, 
sufficient for each individual, with those naturally dependant 
on him ; meaning by snffioient. not the miniuiiim of subsistence 
necessary lor existence, but including a dejrree of comfort pro- 
portioned to th(> progress of the society in which be lives, anJ 
to the enjoyments of the upper classes in it. 



328 APPENDIX. 

full scope to work out the good of each individual, with- 
out injury to ollicrs. 

The laws protect personal freedom in America, because 
they expre-s the general w'xW, and are therefore para- 
mount over any individual, or combination of individual 
interests. 

The remedy for illegal imprisonment is, as in England, 
, by writ of ilabeas Corpus, which issues in all cases what- 
ever, a;id can be suspended in its operation by an Act of 
Congress only, which, by* a constitutional prec-^pt, may 
be past " in cases of rebellion, and invasion only i" and 
as the nation, by its ret>re3enlatives, is to judge of the oc- 
casion, it is scarcely possible for a President to use the 
pretext of plots, and conspiracies, to suspend the privileges 
of the people* 

The American system secures property by actual re- 
presentation, an<l division of power. The tirst constitutes 
the peoide judges of the necessity and amount of taxation 
to be imiosed ; thi^ second prevents the generation of any 
interest, in opposition to that of the peojile, by which its 
proTterty might, forcibly or fraudently, be extracted fromit.f 

But while the healthful operation of Governments is 
thns limited, their powers of producing evil dilate almost 
info infinity. They cannot create a blade of grass, but 
they can desolate the Universe ; and it is from this consi- 
deration we ascribe to them as virtue, the evils they for- 
bear to create. 

It woidd be endless to institute a comparison betwixt 
the American system ami other forms of Government, 
upon every item of calamit}'^ Governments are capable of 
prodncins; one however, may be selected, because it is 
either the cause or consequence of all others ; and of itself 
fully expresses by its increase or diminution, the essential 
nature of Political Systems : it is Want.| 

* The Habeas Corpus act was never suspended during the 
late war. 

f Any body of men having a powerful interest in deceiving a 
nation, will probably in the long run. deceive it; and since 
there is scarcely any limit to human credulity, a system offraud 
once besnn. will be even more ruinous than odp of simfde op- 
pression, because good-wMI in the former case, will re-produce 
the food of the vnlture. which preys upon it. 

t Want is pobtieallv the reverse of political happiness : the 
lack of a sufficient maintenance for each individual and his fa- 



APPENDIX. 329 

How far is want attrib;italtle to Government ? 

Man is stimulated both by reason and instinct to seek 
his own happiness, and this tendency, provided it be not 
exercised to the injury of others, is allowed to be laudable. 
Whatever checks it must therefore be evil, and, as refer- 
able to human agency, blameable. 

Considered with respect to its political happiness or 
misery, society may he supposed to exist under the fol- 
lowing forms. 

1. A Community may be planted on a soil capable of 
feeding l)ut a part of its numbers, or in a pestilential at- 
mosphere, or on the crater of a volcano. It is evident 
that in all these cases, misery must ens.je, whatever might 
be the form of Government, because the obstacles to 
publick happiness are natural, and therefore unavoid- 
able. ' 

2. It may be settled in a fertile country, but have in- 
creased beyond any possible increase of the fecundity 
of the soil. Here too, Nature bars the efforts of human 
interference, as effectually as in the former cases. 

3. Suppose it however fixed on a territory capable of 
supporting more than its present numbers, and yet a 
large portion of these suffering from want,* how far 
would Government in this instance, be chargeable with 
crushing or paralysing the universal tendency towards 

mily. In the extreme it annihilates personal freedom, since it 
is immaterial whether the laws deprive a man of bis liberty, or 
whether his poverty denies bim the means of redress, should it 
be taken from him illegally. 

* The United States themselves present a curious illustra- 
tion of this case. There exists in several States a body of 
men, constituting a majority of the population in many dis- 
tricts, who labour constantly, and yet never procure beyond 
the coarsest food, by which their bodily strength may be sup- 
ported, without a single additional comfort. This cannot pro- 
ceed from a redundancy of population, since every year new 
townships are erected in these states and new villages built ; 
nor from the poverty of the soil, for their labour furnishes 
others with luxuries; but they are slaves, that is, they pos- 
sess nothing and their masters all. But were the social edi- 
fice dissolved and rebuilt by physical force, would the result 
be the same ? Evidently not, for one master is not equal in 
strength to 50 or 100 slaves. The inequality, therefore, and 
consequent misery are the work of Government. 

42 



330 APPEVDIX. 

hapnineas ? To answer this qupstion, we must refer to 
the caitse of the evil complHipei) of. Wiiy do some want, 
when Nature would yifid enough for all ? 

A deficiency of individual exertion is the cause in 
some few insiances, iiut, unless artificially obstructed, 
self-love is on the averagje abundantly sufficient to excite 
to self gratirication. There are few men, who if (daced 
on a desert island, would rather starve than work; few 
who having obtained the necessaries, would not purchase 
by toil some of the comforts of existence. The cause 
must therefore be something iusurmountabie by human 
industry. Let us assume the case of a slave. 

Why are the laliours of a slave insufficient to procure 
his happiness.^ Because he labours for another, who, ac- 
tuated l)y self-interest, will yield him no more of the pro- 
duct of his toil, than barely suffices to preserve him in a 
condition fit !o continue it. 

Grant him his freedom, would his situation be bettered 
b3' it ? If his quondam masters continued absolute lords 
of the whole soil, and this monopoly were secured to 
them by power, clearly not. He would be forced to re- 
ceive the minimum of subsistence as before. The proxi- 
mate cause of his distress would be accumulation of pro- 
perty in the hands of a governing class, but the effective 
cause would be the lav.- or system of Government, by 
which this accumulation was created and maintained. 

Wherever the feudal system existed, accumulation was 
effected by laws of primogeniture, entails, escheats, and 
forfeitures, which, with the aid of Ecclesiastical fraud, 
divided the prq5j)erly of each state, betwixt the King, 
Lords, and Church, leaving for the people's share, la- 
bour and oppression. When feudalism decayed, it left 
social institutions so constructed, as to afford a fit basis 
for the modern substitution by which accumulation is still 
preserved, Taxation.* 

* Taxation has been said to divide instead of arcumnlating. 
Suppose a nation to raise .W.OOO.dK)/. annually in taxes, it 
is evident such an imposition ffoes to divide as far as the 
payers are concerned, for no afciimulation can lake place 
without a co-extensive division ; but what is the case with 
regard to the receivers ? It cannot be said, that the whole 
sum is divided among the coniribntors. for then why raise 
it ? It must therefore be divided among a less number, and 
this is accumulation. It is true the soil may ostensibly con- 
tinue in the same hands ; hut as long as the occupiers yield 



APPENDIX. 33i 

The American system, not being founded upon feud&l 
principles, rejects the law of primogeniture common to 
European Governments, and having sulyected taxatioit 
to National Sovereignty, leaves accumulation to the na-* 
tnral order of events, by vvliich it is aliernhteiy repro^ 
duced and destroyed 

Men are born unecjua! in strength, talents, and appli- 
cation : their success in lite is consecpienlly unequal : one 
man rises into atiluence, anoiher subsides into j»over(y. 
But morHl qualitii-s are not inheritable : (he active and 
skilt'ul ftth«r ;a succeeded by an in<lolent or weak son, 
and vice v.;r.sa. Thus accumulation perpetually alternsles 
with division, and the general level of society is no 
more destroyed ih.in is that of the ocean, by the billows 
which swell and subside ujion its surface. 

Would not this system in any other country but Ameri- 
ca, prpduce misery, by removing all checks to a supera- 
bundant increase of (lopulalion, and thus render the con- 
dition of society worse gfneraliy than before? Perhaps 
it would : perhaps too, nature may have remedies in store, 
when the occasion shall require them : in either case 
governments which create inequality, and consequent 
misery, by law, are not juslitiable ; first, because it is 
contrary to reason to substitute a positive for^d possi!>le 
evil; secondly, because they have in no case been em- 
powered to SMcrifice the present generation to posterity ; 
thirdly, because in doing so they consider neither the 
present generation nor posterily, but are actuated by 
self-interest only, according to which they substitute the 
increase of their own power for the general good. 



SECTION V. 

CONCLi;SION. 



1 hav? thus far touched u()on the general princijdes 
and most striking effecis of liie American system. 

the chief part of their product in taxes, they are no other than 
cultivators or VHlani for the benefit of the receivers. They 
may be treated with induliienre to render their services more 
profitable, or with harshness, lest they should acquire eourage 
to resist, or sasjacity to escape. The mode of their treatment 
is indifferent to the fact. 



^liiiit^ ■ -^-'^"^£5 



S32 APPENDIX. 



me 



With respect to its relative value, and to the advance- 
...^nt it may be considered as having made in the science 
of Dolllicits, there will probably exist much diversity of 
opinion, but none, I thinli, as to its utility with reference 
to the American people. If has survived the tender 
period of infincy, and outlived the prophecies of its 
downfall.* By (he triiimih of the Democrafick jiarty, 
its principles have been fitstered into maturity, and their 
application illustrited by experience. It has borne the 
nation triumf)haiilly tbroi{2;h a period of dumestick ditfi- 
cultj'. and external danger; it has been foinid service- 
able both in peace and war, an(J may well claim from 
the nation it hns saved, and honoured, the votive bene- 
diction of " Esto pcrpftua.''^ 

* I allude to Mr. Ames' Essay " On the Dangers of Ameri- 
can Liberty," written in 180.^. Fisher Ames was tiie Burke 
of America. With an lujderstanding vigorous, and higldy 
cnltivated. he had the same vividness of imagination, united 
with acute, it might almost t)e said, morbid sensibility. He 
saw objects dimly, through the medium of discoloured feel- 
ings, but his brilliant and heated fancy supplied the defi- 
ciencies of reality, till he started at the phanfastick ':ei- 
tions of'hjs own eloquence. The French Hevolution had doubt- 
less its admirers in America, and where political *' '■ igs 
know no restraint, the expression of them will go eve.. 
yond the truth. Tfiere might be individuals too, wtiose 
proper elem«'nt was confusion, and who would therelorc J.ave 
gladly raised a tempest they hoped to govern, but to revo- 
lutionize a nation by speeches and newspapers, is a project 
incompatible with the known laws of human nature. Civil 
commotions can be raised by suffering only, and by suffering 
of a very intense kind. iVlen will not hazard a comfortable 
existence for the sake of metaphysical doctrines, whicfi pro- 
mise the'm no advantages they are not already possessed of; 
yet Mr. Ames assumes in his writings a possibility of this 
kind, and labours to shew how a few knaves may turn a hap- 
py pooole toosy-tiirvy. As micht be expected, the contrast 
be'wixt his firts, and his inferences, is ludicrously striking. 
Tim" has amply shewn the inanity of those gloomy forebodings, 
which ton probably weighed on his own distempered spirit, 
and accelerated the close of a career adorned with the exhi- 
bition of splendid talents, and directed by the purest feeling*; 
of virtue and patriotism. 

THU END. 



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